A light responsive two-component supramolecular hydrogel: a sensitive platform for the fabrication of humidity sensors.

The supramolecular assembly of anionic azobenzene dicarboxylate and cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) formed a stimuli responsive hydrogel with a critical gelation concentration (CGC) of 0.33 wt%. This self-sustainable two-component system was able to repair damage upon light irradiation. Moreover, it was successfully employed in the fabrication of highly sensitive humidity sensors for the first time.

Does crystal or gel matter to stereochemistry of a reaction? Silver complexation-promoted solid-state [2+2] reaction of an unsymmetrical olefin.

Head-to-tail and head-to-head [2+2] photodimerization of an unsymmetrical olefin containing benzimidazole and pyridyl groups was achieved by irradiating Ag(I) complexed olefin in crystalline state and gel state, respectively, in stereoselective manner. The [2+2] reaction indicates that the molecular arrangement in a gel is different from that of a xerogel.