Light-Induced Disruption of 1D Wire-Like Arrays of Monoatomic Ag(I) Ions: Single-Crystal Reaction with Crystal Softening.

The exploitation of noncovalent bonding in the solid state is attractive to generate one-dimensional (1D) wire-like assemblies of metals and uncover dynamic and physical properties of such intriguing structures. Herein, we describe a metal-organic crystal based on Ag(I) ions that assemble to be organized into 1D wire-like assemblies maintained by argentophilic interactions. UV-light irradiation of the crystal composed of the 1D structures results in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) photodimerization that transforms the 1D periodic metal arrays to isolated metal dimers. The structural reconfiguration creates small voids in the crystal and the resulting solids exhibit a substantial increase in softness up to 60%.