Light‐Induced Disruption of 1D Wire‐Like Arrays of Monoatomic Ag(I) Ions: Single‐Crystal Reaction with Crystal Softening

Abstract The exploitation of noncovalent bonding in the solid state is attractive to generate one‐dimensional (1D) wire‐like assemblies of metals and uncover dynamic and physical properties of such intriguing structures. Herein, we describe a metal‐organic crystal based on Ag(I) ions that assemble to be organized into 1D wire‐like assemblies maintained by argentophilic interactions. UV‐light irradiation of the crystal composed of the 1D structures results in a single‐crystal‐to‐single‐crystal (SCSC) photodimerization that transforms the 1D periodic metal arrays to isolated metal dimers. The structural reconfiguration creates small voids in the crystal and the resulting solids exhibit a substantial increase in softness up to 60%.