ABSTRACT:

Organic photochromic molecules including diarylethenes are of particular interest for their numerous potential applications including high-density optical data storage and light-activated switches. In this report, we examined the temperature dependence of the light-drive photocyclization reaction in a classic diarylethene. The steady-state populations were monitored spectroscopically and by temperature dependent in situ photocrystallography, the latter being the first reported example of this technique. The observed decrease in the steady-state population with decreasing temperature suggests this classic diarylethene possesses an excited-state potential energy surface topology similar to previously reported “inverted” diarylethenes.

Jordan M. Cox, Ian M. Walton, Dinesh G. (Dan) Patel, Mengyang Xu§, Yu-Sheng Chen, and Jason B. Benedict*

 Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States

 Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, Hazleton, Pennsylvania 18202, United States

§ Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States

 ChemMatCARS, The University of Chicago, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States

 

J. Phys. Chem. A, 2015119 (5), pp 884–888

DOI: 10.1021/jp512488q