writer：J. Leblond,; H. Gao, A. Petitjean, Leroux, J.C. Leroux,
keywords：pH-Responsive, molecular tweezers
source：期刊
specific source：J Am Chem Soc, 2010, 132 (25), pp 8544–8545
Issue time：2010年

In this work, we report a pH-sensitive molecular tweezer prototype that could serve as a fast responding unit to manipulate the release rate of a substrate (Figure 1A) by a macromolecular carrier. The structure comprises three elements: (i) a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) backbone to provide water solubility to the carrier, (ii) two naphthalene arms to ensure binding to the substrate, and (iii) a switching unit, i.e. a methoxyphenylpyridinemethoxyphenyl triad, ortho-Py, to allow the tweezer to switch from the U- to W-shape conformations at acidic pH, thereby decreasing its affinity
for the substrate.