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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Novel Techniques for Observing Structural Dynamics of Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 29, 2018
Photochromism of diarylethene single molecules and single crystals
1Department of Chemistry and Research Center for Smart Molecules, Rikkyo University, Nishi-Ikebukuro 3-34-1, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, 171-8501, Japan. iriem@rikkyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
Photochromism is characterized as a reversible colour change of a chemical species upon photoirradiation. Although vast numbers of photochromic molecules have been so far synthesized, molecules which exhibit thermally irreversible photochromic reactivity are limited within a few families of compounds. Among the thermally irreversible photochromic molecules, diarylethene derivatives are the most promising candidates for applications to opto-electronic devices because of their fatigue resistance, high sensitivity and rapid response. In this review, characteristic photochromic performances of the derivatives, detection and analysis of the photochromic reactions at a single-molecule level and application of the single-crystalline photochromism to molecular machinery will be described.
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