Reductive Electrochemical Cyclization of a Photochromic 1,2-Dithienylcyclopentene Dication

摘要

The construction of functional molecular devices requires access to molecular components with physical properties that can be reversibly modified by applying one or more external stimuli. Molecular isomerization reactions triggered by a physical stimulus such as heat, light, electricity, or through the remote complexation of ions or molecules have all been instrumental in the development of molecular systems that display active switching functions. Photochromic compounds containing the dithienylethene (DTE) backbone undergo thermally irreversible cyclization reactions between colorless and colored forms when stimulated with UV and visible light (Scheme 1). Because of the notable differences in the nature of π conjugation between the two DTE isomers, these photoresponsive systems offer several choices of changes in properties such as absorbance, luminescence, refractive index, and redox potential, all of which are useful in photo-optical and photoelectronic device applications.