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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Free Radicals in Chemical Biology: from Chemical Behavior to Biomarker Development
Published on: April 15, 2013
A New Photomagnetic Molecular System Based on Photoinduced Self-Assembly of Radicals
Imma Ratera1, Daniel Ruiz-Molina1, José Vidal-Gancedo1
1Institut de Ciencia de Materials de Barcelona (CSIC) Campus Universitari de Bellaterra 08193, Cerdanyola (Spain) Fax: (+34) 93-580-57-29.
Abstract:
An irreversible trans→cis isomerization of the imino group occurs during the irradiation of the new ferrocenyl Schiff-base polychlorotriphenylmethyl radical 1 by light. Low-temperature ESR investigations of frozen solutions revealed that the cis isomer exists as the (cis-1)2 dimer with strong antiferromagnetic interactions. The radical 1 constitutes an example of a one-way photoswitchable magnetic system in which a conversion between a doublet and a singlet ground-state species is promoted by a photoinduced self-assembly process driven by the formation of hydrogen bonds.
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