Kalapos P, Kunfi A, Bogner MM, Holczbauer T, Kochman MA, Durbeej B, London G. Salicylideneaniline/Dithienylethene Hybrid Molecular Switches: Design, Synthesis, and Photochromism.
J Org Chem 2024;
89:16-26. [PMID:
38060251 PMCID:
PMC10777402 DOI:
10.1021/acs.joc.3c00828]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
A hybrid molecular switch comprising salicylideneaniline (SA) and dithienylethene (DTE) moieties around a single benzene ring is reported. Due to an interplay between solvent-assisted enol-keto tautomerization in the former moiety and photochromic electrocyclization in the latter, this dithienylbenzene derivative was found to be photoresponsive at room temperature with a thermally stable closed form. The main photoproduct featuring ring-closed DTE and keto-enamine SA structures could be isolated and converted back to the starting material by irradiation with visible light. The optical properties of the potential structures involved in the overall process were characterized by using density functional theory (DFT) calculations in good agreement with the measured data. The reversibility of the conversion could be tuned by the presence of donor and acceptor substituents, while the introduction of the imine in the form of a benzothiazole moiety enabled photochemistry even in nonprotic solvents.
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