Excited state dynamics and conjugation effects of the photoisomerization reactions of dihydroazulene

Abstract

Herein, we present an investigation of the excited state dynamics of the dihydroazulene photoswitch and its photoinduced reaction to vinylheptafulvene. The focus is on how the introduction of a benzannulated ring in different sites of the structure can modify the excited state topology and thus the kinetics of the ring opening reaction of DHA by alteration of the excited state conjugation of the system. The dynamics of the systems is obtained utilizing ab initio density functional theory calculations in different solvents coupled with unimolecular reaction theory. To accompany these results, the electron delocalization is investigated using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules partitioning to follow the trends induced by the benzannulated ring. It is observed that the introduction of a benzannulated ring can both enhance and diminish the rate of the photoinduced ring opening of dihydroazulene and that certain patterns of conjugation are consistent with the rate constants. Lastly, we find good agreement with earlier experimental studies indicating that the chosen approach could be used to predict whether photochromic systems lose their photoswitchability upon being optimized for specific applications via functionalization.