Supramolecular assemblies of azobenzene‐β‐cyclodextrin dimers and azobenzene modified polycaprolactones

Click chemistry is employed to couple two β‐cyclodextrins at both ends of azobenzene moiety yielding dumbbell‐shaped amphiphiles (AZO‐β‐CD dimer) constructed by rigid aromatic building blocks as “body”, and hydrophilic cyclodextrins as “head” with almost quantitative yield and purity. Bulk aggregates formed by the self‐assembly of the supraamphiphiles through π–π stacking and hydrophobic effect are observed. Meanwhile, the rationally designed polyesters, named as AZO‐PCL with controllable molecular weights and low polydispersities, are successfully synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone in the presence of p‐aminoazobenzene as initiator. In the aqueous phase, very stable spherical particles are formed by host–guest interactions between AZO‐β‐CD and AZO‐PCLs; the spherical aggregates inherit the photo‐responsiveness of azobenzene. The detailed aggregation and disaggregation behaviors are fully investigated by TEM, SEM, NMR, 2D NOESY, IR, UV and XRD measurements. Compared to the previous works, our newly developed system can be fabricated with more readily manners, avoiding tedious synthetic process; the reversible and dynamic nature of the non‐covalent interactions also can be modulated alternatively by UV or visible light. Thus, such dumbbell‐shaped supra‐amphiphiles are of great potential applications in the controlled delivery systems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.