Optical switching in chiropticenes.

Chiropticenes are a novel class of predesigned chiral molecular switches that are triggered and controlled by a combination of both light and electric field. Chiropticenes contain an optically active (chiral) center and, as a consequence, provide two accessible equal energy bistable states resembling the molecular elements of binary logic. Structural engineering of the basic switch design is investigated to modulate the thermal and optical switching behavior of the resulting compounds. A simple screening methodology is presented to detect switching behavior in the solid state employing standard NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. Validation of this method is demonstrated by the switching properties of newly synthesized anthraquinone dye based Chiropticenes. Functioning as a chiroptical dipole switch, Chiropticenes promise broad applications in emerging optoelectronic and molecular electronic technologies.