Alternating Orthogonal Switching in a Thiophenyl‐Phenyl‐Bis‐Azobenzene Switch

To design efficient molecular information storage systems with multi-photoswitchable entities, orthogonal isomerization of the different switchable moieties is essential. Various challenges, like unintentional energy transfer, spectral overlap, and other energy dissipation channels, have to be addressed by intelligent molecule design. In this context, we took advantage of calculations to design a bis-azobenzene switch, which consists of a phenyl- and a thiophenylazobenzene moiety in meta-connection to reduce π-conjugation. Ultrafast spectroscopy and computational studies confirmed that this bis-photoswitch exhibits alternating orthogonal switching behavior when irradiated with light of different wavelengths. These results represent a significant advancement toward the development of efficient and adaptable organic multi-photoswitches for applications, such as information storage, molecular machines, or smart materials.

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Publication Details

Journal
Chemistry - A European Journal
Published
2025-08-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202501976
Primary Topic
Photochromic and Fluorescence Chemistry
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Alternating Orthogonal Switching in a Thiophenyl‐Phenyl‐Bis‐Azobenzene Switch

Nils Oberhof, Christina M. Thiele, Josef Wachtveitl, Anne Kunz et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal
Photochromic and Fluorescence Chemistry
article

Alternating Orthogonal Switching in a Thiophenyl‐Phenyl‐Bis‐Azobenzene Switch

Nils Oberhof, Christina M. Thiele, Josef Wachtveitl, Anne Kunz, Andreas H. Heindl, Andreas Dreuw, Hermann A. Wegner, Dazhong Sun, Kai Hanke, Chavdar Slavov, Lukas Kaltschnee
article en

Abstract

To design efficient molecular information storage systems with multi-photoswitchable entities, orthogonal isomerization of the different switchable moieties is essential. Various challenges, like unintentional energy transfer, spectral overlap, and other energy dissipation channels, have to be addressed by intelligent molecule design. In this context, we took advantage of calculations to design a bis-azobenzene switch, which consists of a phenyl- and a thiophenylazobenzene moiety in meta-connection to reduce π-conjugation. Ultrafast spectroscopy and computational studies confirmed that this bis-photoswitch exhibits alternating orthogonal switching behavior when irradiated with light of different wavelengths. These results represent a significant advancement toward the development of efficient and adaptable organic multi-photoswitches for applications, such as information storage, molecular machines, or smart materials.

Chemistry - A European JournalVol. 31(57)
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE), Heidelberg University (DE), University of South Florida (US), Technische Universität Darmstadt (DE)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Openalex Percentile: Top 84%
Photochromic and Fluorescence Chemistry
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Alternating Orthogonal Switching in a Thiophenyl‐Phenyl‐Bis‐Azobenzene Switch — Nils Oberhof, Christina M. Thiele, et al. · Chemistry - A European Journal (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS