Photochemical Spin‐State Switching of an All‐Organic Molecular System with Visible Light
Controlling the spin state of a molecule using the spatiotemporal properties of visible light is of interest for spintronic devices in information technology or (bio)medical applications. We, herein, report an all-organic visible light-induced photochromic system than can switch from a diamagnetic (singlet) to a paramagnetic (triplet) state. This is realized by precisely tuning orbital symmetry and internal molecular strain in a [5]helicene scaffold substituted with an indanedione π-acceptor. Irradiation with visible light at cryogenic temperatures gives a kinetically meta-stable paramagnetic diradical state with a solvent-dependent ground-state multiplicity (triplet or singlet), which can be thermally switched back to its initial diamagnetic state.
Authors
- Oliver Dumele∞ (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3277-6570)
- Malte C. Gather (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4857-5562)
- Clara Douglas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9717-9777)
- Thomas Lohmiller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0373-1506)
- Sabine Richert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2990-974X)
- Philipp Thielert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9364-7951)
- Joël Schlecht
Institutions
- TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences (DE)
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- University of Cologne (DE)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (DE)
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-09-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202515144
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.87
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universität Wien