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Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) represents an important class of molecular building blocks for the assembly of supramolecular functional systems primarily due to its molecular recognition capability and sequence programmability. Eventually, DNA‐based nanostructures are assembled in a way that their states remain at the thermodynamic minimum of the energy. However, active life‐like functions and their interactive adaption require the integration of energy away from thermodynamic equilibrium. The construction of DNA‐based artificial systems was often inspired by the naturally occurring dissipative assembly processes, which leads to the consumption of energy to maintain the thermodynamically non‐equilibrium state. In this review, the recent progress of the fabrications and properties of DNA‐based dissipative assembly systems toward nanoarchitectonics is summarized. It focuses on the principle of dissipative assembly and shows some pioneering examples of DNA‐based dissipative assembly systems. The latest corresponding perspectives are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, high-pressure behaviour of a series of amphoteric molecules in the crystal form was investigated, and the detailed experimental and calculated data revealed that hydrostatic pressure could result in intermolecular proton transfer in addition to the previously reported changes in molecular conformations and enhancement of intermolecular forces. Furthermore, by comparing (2-(3,3-dimethyl-3H-indol-2-yl)vinyl)-4-nitrophenol (AM-N) with the control molecules de-nitrated AM, nitro-mismatched OM-N and methylated AM-N-C, it was found that the pressure-triggered proton transfer in the crystal was not a simple loss or gain of protons as that in solution; instead, it involved the sharing of protons by their gradual deviation from a proton donor to a proton acceptor. The proton deviation degree strongly depends on the distance between the proton donor and acceptor in the crystal, rather than molecular acidity and basicity in solution. Moreover, regarding its potential applications, the acid–base conjugated amphoteric molecule AM-N could be applied in accurate colorimetric pressure sensing, and its accuracy was close to that of the widely used high-pressure indicator ruby pressure marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two typical molecular switches of spiropyran (SP) and benzoxazine (OX) were fused by sharing an indole to achieve a new dual‐addressable molecular switch (SP‐OX‐NO2). Through proper molecular modification with NO2, the transformation from merocyanine (MC) to ring‐closed SP or ring‐closed OX can be controlled separately with visible light or base stimuli in solution, respectively, and these processes are verified by UV‐vis and NMR spectroscopy as well as control experiments. The cis‐merocyanine (cis‐MC) form is involved in the basochromic process in solution. DFT calculation suggests that the bidirectional switching property of the fused SP‐OX molecular switch can be controlled separately, when the OX isomer is more stable than the deprotonated SP isomer. Because of the significant color variations in solution, the simple dual‐addressable switch has been further successfully applied to construct a multicolor reversible display on paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intramolecular weak hydrogen bonds of CH…O and CH/Pi were introduced into a twisted fluorophore backbone of 1,4-bis(2,2-diphenylvinyl)benzene, which enables the fluorophore to emit violently and stably in both solubilized and aggregated states, and be inert to solvent environments and preserve over 10% quantum yield at temperature as high as 90 °C in solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new single-arm extension strategy on traditional tetraphenylethylene and successfully develop a new series of full-color (from ∼450 nm to ∼740 nm) tunable mechanofluorochromic materials. These materials exhibit efficient solid-state emission (quantum yield Φf ＞ 10%) and high mechanofluorochromic contrast (wavelength shift from ∼50 nm to ∼100 nm). More importantly, we discover an unexpected excitation-dependent emission phenomenon of mechanofluorochromic materials and propose to utilize this new excitation-dependent emission behavior of materials to evaluate their mechanical-responsive performances more comprehensively. Finally, the unique feature of abundant emissions of mechanofluorochromic materials by changing the excitation light has shown application potential in dual channel anti-counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upon the supply of external energy, the DNA-based assembly system can overcome the energy barrier, folding into complex nanostructures and/or performing enzyme-like functions. Keywords: DNA; dissipative assemblies; fuel; nanoarchitectonics; non-equilibrium EN DNA dissipative assemblies fuel nanoarchitectonics non-equilibrium 1 1 1 09/14/22 20220912 NES 220912 B Nanoarchitectonics b In article number 2201196, Xiaoming Zhang, Junbai Li, Lifei Zheng, and co-workers show that DNA-based dissipative assemblies mimic naturally occurring out-of-equilibrium systems. When the energy supply is discontinued, the internal energy is gradually consumed, which eventually drives the system to the minimum of free energy landscape and recovers the original ground state. [Extracted from the article]