Photochromic reaction in a molecular glass as a novel host matrix: the 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4,4′,4″-tris[3-methylphenyl(phenyl)amino]triphenylamine system

Abstract

For the purposes of clarifying the properties of a molecular glass as a novel host matrix and gaining information on the microstructure of the molecular glass, the photochromic behavior of 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene (DAAB) in a novel molecular glass of 4,4′,4′′-tris[3-methylphenyl(phenyl)amino]triphenylamine (m-MTDATA) was investigated, and compared with its behavior in a polystyrene glass matrix and a benzene solution. It was found that the fraction of the photoisomerized cis-isomer of DAAB at the photostationary state is smaller in the m-MTDATA glass matrix than in the polystyrene matrix and the benzene solution, and that the apparent initial rate constant for the backward cis→trans thermal isomerization of DAAB is much larger in the m-MTDATA glass than in the polystyrene matrix and the benzene solution. These results suggest that the average size of local free volume in the molecular glass of m-MTDATA is smaller than that in the polystyrene glass.