Issue 30, 2024

Detour to success: photoswitching via indirect excitation

Abstract

Photoswitchable molecules that undergo nanoscopic changes upon photoisomerisation can be harnessed to control macroscopic properties such as colour, solubility, shape, and motion of the systems they are incorporated into. These molecules find applications in various fields of chemistry, physics, biology, and materials science. Until recently, research efforts have focused on the design of efficient photoswitches responsive to low-energy (red or near-infrared) irradiation, which however may compromise other molecular properties such as thermal stability and robustness. Indirect isomerisation methods enable photoisomerisation with low-energy photons without altering the photoswitch core, and also open up new avenues in controlling the thermal switching mechanism. In this perspective, we present the state of the art of five indirect excitation methods: two-photon excitation, triplet sensitisation, photon upconversion, photoinduced electron transfer, and indirect thermal methods. Each impacts our understanding of the fundamental physicochemical properties of photochemical switches, and offers unique application prospects in biomedical technologies and beyond.

Graphical abstract: Detour to success: photoswitching via indirect excitation

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
17 apr 2024
Accepted
02 jul 2024
First published
02 jul 2024
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2024,15, 11684-11698

Detour to success: photoswitching via indirect excitation

K. Kuntze, J. Isokuortti, J. J. van der Wal, T. Laaksonen, S. Crespi, N. A. Durandin and A. Priimagi, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 11684 DOI: 10.1039/D4SC02538E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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