Photochemical Reactions in Nanoscopic Organic Domains Generated from Oriented Crystals with Polymers: Nanocrystalline Mosaics as a New Family of Host Materials

Oriented architectures are formed on nanocrystals with incorporation of organic polymers through a biomimetic route. The composites of potassium sulfate and potassium hydrogen phthalate/poly(acrylic acid) exhibit a mosaic structure consisting of organic polymers and ca. 20 nm nanocrystals. These nanocrystalline mosaics have organic domains originating from organic polymers in nanoscopic scale and serve as a host material for the incorporation and photochemical reaction of organic molecules. Photoisomerization of azobenzene and photodimerization of coumarin are successfully demonstrated in the composite materials, indicating that the nanocrystalline mosaic has potential as a new family of host material.