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Updated: May 3, 2026

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes
Published on: April 10, 2015
One photon yields two isomerizations: large atomic displacements during electronic excited-state dynamics in
Komal Garg1, Albert W King, Jeffrey J Rack
1Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University , Athens, Ohio 45701, United States.
Abstract:
Photochromic compounds efficiently transduce photonic energy to potential energy for excited-state bond-breaking and bond-forming reactions. A critical feature of this reaction is the nature of the electronic excited-state potential energy surface and how this surface facilitates large nuclear displacements and rearrangements. We have prepared two photochromic ruthenium sulfoxide complexes that feature two isomerization reactions following absorption of a single photon. We show by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy that this reaction is complete within a few hundred picoseconds and suggest that isomerization occurs along a conical intersection seam formed by the ground-state and excited-state potential energy surfaces.
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