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The trans form of an azobenzene-containing guest can complex with a pillar6arene, while it cannot complex with pillar5arenes due to the different cavity sizes of the pillar6arene and the pillar5arenes. The spontaneous aggregation of its host-guest complex with the pillar6arene can be reversibly photocontrolled by irradiation with UV and visible light, leading to a switch between irregular aggregates and vesicle-like aggregates. This new pillar6arene-based photoresponsive host-guest recognition motif can work in organic solvents and is a good supplement to the existing widely used cyclodextrin/azobenzene recognition motif.
Yu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.