Multi-state photoswitchable compounds are highly attractive for application in data storage or multi-responsive materials. In this work, a trisazobenzene macrocycle capable of three-state isomerization is presented. The compound can be switched into each of the states with more than 70% of the isomer solely by light and heat as stimuli representing the first example for an oligo-azobenzene containing identical photochromic units which can be selectively adressed. Detailed spectroscopic, crystallographic, HPLC as well as computational investigations and the comparison to a less and a higher strained derivative revealed macrocyclic ring strain to be responsible for the compounds unique isomerization behavior.
CITATION STYLE
Heindl, A. H., Becker, J., & Wegner, H. A. (2019). Selective switching of multiple azobenzenes. Chemical Science, 10(31), 7418–7425. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sc02347j
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