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Published on: July 26, 2017
Photoswitching of Copper(I) Chromophores with Dithienylethene-Based Ligands
Zhen Xu1, Yang Cao1, Brian O Patrick1
1Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Abstract:
Metal-containing dithienylethenes offer new opportunities for variations in photochromic behavior. This work reports a series of copper(I) complexes containing dithienylethene-based bidentate phosphine ligands displaying varying photochromic properties. A copper dimer is used as a common precursor, allowing diverse photochromic functionality to be achieved. Calculations show that ring closing of the peripheral dithienyl moiety leads to a slight expansion of the five-membered metallacycle. The photochromic properties and photoreaction quantum yields of these complexes are tunable by variation of the ancillary ligands. Photoswitchable catalysis of a hydroboration reaction with one of the copper complexes is demonstrated.
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