Photochromism of 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine based cadmium chloride complex

Herein, a tripyridyl-triazine-based cadmium chloride complex CdCl₂(2-TPT) (<b>1</b>) (2-TPT = 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine), has been successfully synthesized by the solvothermal method. Complex <b>1</b> exhibits photochromic performance with color changing from colorless to grey. The structure, photochromic properties, and mechanism of <b>1</b> were well demonstrated by Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, PXRD, FTIR, ESR, XPS, and UV-vis spectroscopy, as well as DFT computational studies. The results of the study indicate that the photochromic performance is induced <i>via</i> photo-introduced electron transfer (PIET) process from the electron-rich Cl atoms to the electron-deficient ligand 2-TPT, which was verified by DFT calculation.