{"PlanS_conform":"1","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Photo-responsive systems based on azobenzenes usually require UV light for E→Z isomerization, limiting their applicability, especially in biomedical contexts. Disequilibration by sensitization of azobenzene under confinement (DESC) has recently emerged as a supramolecular strategy to bypass this limitation without the need to derivatize the azobenzene scaffold. Here, we expand DESC to water-soluble azopolymers obtained by RAFT polymerization and systematically investigate the interplay between the polymer structure and DESC efficiency. Using this approach, we achieved as much as 85% of the direct photoexcitation (UV) switching efficiency, while utilizing low-energy (yellow) light. These results establish general design principles for combining DESC with polymeric systems, opening new opportunities for the development of functional materials driven with low-energy light."}],"pmid":1,"quality_controlled":"1","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1521-3773"],"issn":["1433-7851"]},"_id":"20933","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"title":"Sensitized disequilibration of water-soluble azopolymers","publication_status":"epub_ahead","scopus_import":"1","article_number":"e23447","article_type":"original","doi":"10.1002/anie.202523447","date_created":"2026-01-04T23:01:35Z","publisher":"Wiley","oa":1,"external_id":{"pmid":["41437660"]},"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","day":"23","publication":"Angewandte Chemie International Edition","date_updated":"2026-01-05T09:42:56Z","has_accepted_license":"1","author":[{"last_name":"Meteling","full_name":"Meteling, Henning Jörn","first_name":"Henning Jörn"},{"full_name":"Gemen, Julius","first_name":"Julius","last_name":"Gemen"},{"first_name":"Satu","full_name":"Häkkinen, Satu","last_name":"Häkkinen"},{"last_name":"Klajn","first_name":"Rafal","full_name":"Klajn, Rafal","id":"8e84690e-1e48-11ed-a02b-a1e6fb8bb53b"},{"last_name":"Priimagi","full_name":"Priimagi, Arri","first_name":"Arri"}],"acknowledgement":"This work is supported by the European Research Council (Consolidator Grand project MULTIMODAL, no. 101045223), the Research Council of Finland Center of Excellence “Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials Research” (LIBER, no. 346107) and the Research Council of Finland Flagship Programme on Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN, no. 320165). H.M. gratefully acknowledges Oommen Podivan for providing access to their Zetasizer for DLS measurements and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technologies at Tampere University for access to their laboratory facilities. R.K. acknowledges funding through the Award for Research Cooperation and High Excellence in Science (ARCHES) from the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research. S.H. acknowledges financial support through the profi7 profiling action SUSBIO from the Research Council of Finland (no. 352754).\r\nOpen access publishing facilitated by Tampereen yliopisto ja Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu, as part of the Wiley - FinELib agreement.","month":"12","project":[{"name":"Integrating Molecular Photoswitches with PH-Feedback Mechanisms: Towards Life-like Materials","_id":"7bf494dc-9f16-11ee-852c-9fe37e3f50f0","grant_number":"713490"}],"OA_place":"publisher","year":"2025","date_published":"2025-12-23T00:00:00Z","type":"journal_article","department":[{"_id":"RaKl"}],"tmp":{"short":"CC BY (4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)"},"oa_version":"Published Version","citation":{"mla":"Meteling, Henning Jörn, et al. “Sensitized Disequilibration of Water-Soluble Azopolymers.” <i>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</i>, e23447, Wiley, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447\">10.1002/anie.202523447</a>.","ieee":"H. J. Meteling, J. Gemen, S. Häkkinen, R. Klajn, and A. Priimagi, “Sensitized disequilibration of water-soluble azopolymers,” <i>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</i>. Wiley, 2025.","ista":"Meteling HJ, Gemen J, Häkkinen S, Klajn R, Priimagi A. 2025. Sensitized disequilibration of water-soluble azopolymers. Angewandte Chemie International Edition., e23447.","chicago":"Meteling, Henning Jörn, Julius Gemen, Satu Häkkinen, Rafal Klajn, and Arri Priimagi. “Sensitized Disequilibration of Water-Soluble Azopolymers.” <i>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</i>. Wiley, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447\">https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447</a>.","apa":"Meteling, H. J., Gemen, J., Häkkinen, S., Klajn, R., &#38; Priimagi, A. (2025). Sensitized disequilibration of water-soluble azopolymers. <i>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</i>. Wiley. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447\">https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447</a>","ama":"Meteling HJ, Gemen J, Häkkinen S, Klajn R, Priimagi A. Sensitized disequilibration of water-soluble azopolymers. <i>Angewandte Chemie International Edition</i>. 2025. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447\">10.1002/anie.202523447</a>","short":"H.J. Meteling, J. Gemen, S. Häkkinen, R. Klajn, A. Priimagi, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2025)."},"status":"public","article_processing_charge":"Yes (via OA deal)","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523447"}],"ddc":["540"],"OA_type":"hybrid"}