Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.344, 83-88, 2000
Femtosecond spectroscopic study on photochromic diarylethenes with terthiophene
Photochromic ring-closure reactions of diarylethene derivatives with terthiophene (T3H, T3Me) have been examined by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The rate of the ring-closure reaction of T3H in n-hexane was estimated to be similar to 2.5 ps, which is very similar to that of T3Me in the same solvent. It was suggested that the ring-closure reaction proceeds through a concerted mechanism without any intermediates but not a two-step mechanism. The rate of ring-closure reaction was also dependent on the solvent polarity, suggesting that the charge transfer state in the excited singlet state plays an important role in the photochromic reaction.
Keywords:diarylethene;terthiophene;femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy;Woodward-Hoffmann rule