Photostimuli reach a selective intermediate in a microflow: one‐shot transformation from a supramolecular co‐polymer to a micro‐disk structure

Abstract

In supramolecular chemistry, photostimulants are generally combined with a static solution under thermodynamic equilibrium with no time progression. In this study, snapshot control of supramolecular polymerization was first combined with pinpoint photoirradiation using a microflow system. Employing the azobenzene derivative trans‐C3NO as a monomer, a snapshot moment of supramolecular polymerization along a microflow channel was selectively irradiated with UV light at 365 nm in a space‐resolved manner, so that the monomers, intermediates (oligomers), or extended supramolecular polymers were selectively exposed to light stimuli. We found that a pinpoint photostimulus to each snapshot moment had a pronounced effect on the kinetic pathway by tuning the timing at which the snapshot moment of cis‐C3NO was generated.