PROGRAMMING AROMATICITY WITH A LIGHT SWITCH

摘要

Excited-state aromaticity gives rise to unique physical properties which may aid the design of functional photoactive materials. Particularly interesting are chemical structures called molecular photoswitches, whose geometry can be regulated by light. One of the most extensively studied classes of electrocyclization-based photoswitches are dithienylethenes. However, assessing whether certain motifs might influence the photochemical transformation within this class of compounds has been unclear. In this light, Baswanth Oruganti, Gabor London, Bo Durbeej, and co-workers designed a new generation of potent electrocyclization-based photoswitches with improved photochemical reactivity.