Photochromic Diarylethenes Designed for Surface Deposition: From Self-Assembled Monolayers to Single Molecules.

The efficient switching that can occur between two stable isomers of diarylethenes makes them particularly promising targets for opto- and molecular electronics. To examine these classes of molecules for electronics applications, they have been subjected to a series of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments, which are the focus of this Review. A brief introduction to the chemical design of diarylethenes in terms of their switching capabilities along with the basics of STM are presented.

Terarylenes as Photoactivatable Hydride Donors.

Terarylene frameworks containing benzothiazole as a photoprecursor of hydride donors are presented. We here report on two new scaffolds along with their photoreactivity in solution. Through use of selected external oxidants, the photogeneration of hydride donors is monitored using UV-visible, NMR, and TEM methods.

Dual Photochemical Bond Cleavage for a Diarylethene-Based Phototrigger Containing both Methanolic and Acetic Sources.

In this paper, we present a novel concept for "smarter" photolabile organic compounds combining not one but two caged functions. As proof of principle, this diarylethene-based compound possesses two inhibited chemical groups (OMe and OAc) and its efficient release in different solvents is reported. In low- to medium-polarity media, both MeOH and AcOH are released, with a slight preferential uncaging of AcOH except in 1,4-dioxane, where MeOH is preferentially released.