REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
Chem Soc Rev. 2012 Jan 21;41(2):869-908. doi: 10.1039/c1cs15126f. Epub 2011 Aug 12.
Flavylium compounds are versatile molecules that comprise anthocyanins, the ubiquitous colorants used by Nature to confer colour to most flowers and fruits. They have found a wide range of applications in human technology, from the millenary colour paints described by the Roman architect Vitruvius, to their use as food additives, combining colour and antioxidant effects, and even as light absorbers in solar cells aiming at a greener solar energy conversion. Their rich complexity derives in part from their ability to switch between a variety of species (flavylium cations, neutral quinoidal bases, hemiketals and chalcones, and negatively charged phenolates) by means of external stimuli, such as pH, temperature and light. This critical review describes (i) the historical advancements in the understanding of the equilibria of their chemical reaction networks; (ii) their thermodynamics and kinetics; (iii) the mechanisms underlying their colour development, such as co-pigmentation and host-guest interactions; (iv) the photophysics and photochemistry that lead to photochromism; and (v) applications in solar cells, models for optical memories, photochromic soft materials such as ionic liquids and gels, and their properties in solid state materials (274 references).
花色素化合物是多功能分子，包括花色苷，花色苷是自然界赋予大多数花卉和果实颜色的普遍存在的着色剂。它们在人类技术中得到了广泛的应用，从罗马建筑师维特鲁威描述的千年色彩涂料，到它们作为食品添加剂的用途，结合了颜色和抗氧化作用，甚至作为太阳能电池中的光吸收剂，旨在实现更绿色的太阳能转换。它们的丰富复杂性部分源于它们通过外部刺激（如 pH 值、温度和光）在多种物种（花色素阳离子、中性醌式碱、半缩醛和查耳酮以及带负电荷的酚盐）之间切换的能力。这篇评论性文章描述了（i）对其化学反应网络平衡的理解的历史进展；（ii）它们的热力学和动力学；（iii）它们颜色发展的机制，如共色和主体-客体相互作用；（iv）导致光致变色的光物理和光化学；以及（v）在太阳能电池、光学存储模型、光致变色软材料（如离子液体和凝胶）中的应用，以及它们在固态材料中的性质（274 篇参考文献）。
