Temperature dependence of ultrafast photoinduced ring-opening and -closure reactions of spironaphthooxazine in crystalline phase

Ultrafast Spintronics: Dynamics of the Photoisomerization-Induced Spin-Charge Excited-State (PISCES) Mechanism in Spirooxazine-Based Photomagnetic Materials

The optical control of spin state is of interest in the development of spintronic materials for data processing and storage technologies. Photomagnetic effects at the single-molecule level have recently been observed in the thin film state at 300 K in photochromic cobalt dioxolenes. Visible light excitation leads to ring-closure of a photochromic spirooxazine bound to a cobalt dioxolene, which leads to generation of a high magnetization state. Formation of the photomagnetic state occurs through a photoisomerization-induced spin-charge excited-state process and is dictated by the spirooxazine ligand dynamics. Here, we report a mechanistic investigation by ultrafast spectroscopy in the UV-vis region of the photochemical ring-closing process in the parent spirooxazine, azahomoadamantylphenanthroline spirooxazine, and the photomagnetic spirooxazine cobalt-dioxolene complex. The cobalt appears to stabilize a photomerocycanine transient intermediate, presumably the TCC isomer, formed along the ground-state potential energy surface (PES). Structural changes associated with the TCC isomer induces formation of the high-spin Co(II) form, suggesting that magnetization dymanics can occur along the excited-state PES, leading to ultrafast switching on the ps time scale. We demonstrate the full ring closure of the spiro-oxazine ligand is not required to switch magnetization states which can be induced with a higher yielding isomerization reaction. The ability of this system to undergo optically induced spin state switching on the ps time scale in the solid state makes it a promising canididate for resistive nonvolatile memory technologies.

Spirooxazine Photoisomerization and Relaxation in Polymer Matrices

9′-Hydroxy-1,3,3-trimethylspiro[indoline-2,3′[3H]naphtha[2,1-b]-1,4oxazine] (SPO-7OH) was used in studies of photochromic transformations in polymer matrices. Illumination with UV lamp caused opening the spirostructure of the oxazine with formation of open merocyanine species absorbing at ca. 610 nm. The kinetic studies of thermal relaxation of the open form showed that this process can be described with a biexponential function including both photochemical reaction and rheological behaviour of the polymeric environment. Basing on Arrhenius plot of the rate constant ascribed to the photochemical reaction, the activation energy was determined, which was 66.1 and 84.7 kJ/mole for poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) matrix, respectively.