Gao Mingxue, Wu Ruimin, Zhang Yawen, Meng Yunshu, Fang Manman, Yang Jie, Li Zhen
Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
Hubei Key Lab on Organic and Polymeric Optoelectronic Materials, Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2025 Jan 22;147(3):2653-2663. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c14920. Epub 2025 Jan 13.
Molecular photoswitch research has drawn much attention in the last century owing to its great potential in the development of smart materials. However, photoswitches suitable for constructing light-responsive luminescent materials remain limited, especially those involving triplet-state phosphorescence. Herein, we designed a novel molecular photoswitch based on the conformation transition of phenothiazine derivatives, minimizing steric hindrance (-CH > -Cl > -F) to regulate the conformation transition process while introducing a cyanobenzene acceptor to promote phosphorescence emission potential. When they were doped into a polymer matrix, varying photoswitch rates were achieved by incorporating different steric hindrance groups into phenothiazine or cyanobenzene groups, accompanied by photoresponsive room-temperature phosphorescence. This study is expected to greatly expand the diversity and applications of organic photoswitch molecules.
由于分子光开关在智能材料开发方面具有巨大潜力，上世纪以来它受到了广泛关注。然而，适用于构建光响应发光材料的光开关仍然有限，特别是那些涉及三重态磷光的光开关。在此，我们基于吩噻嗪衍生物的构象转变设计了一种新型分子光开关，通过最小化空间位阻（-CH > -Cl > -F）来调节构象转变过程，同时引入氰基苯受体以促进磷光发射潜力。当它们被掺杂到聚合物基质中时，通过将不同的空间位阻基团引入吩噻嗪或氰基苯基团，可以实现不同的光开关速率，并伴随光响应室温磷光。这项研究有望极大地扩展有机光开关分子的多样性和应用。
