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Updated: Jul 5, 2025

Determination of the Photoisomerization Quantum Yield of a Hydrazone Photoswitch
Published on: February 7, 2022
Unravelling photoisomerization dynamics in a metastable-state photoacid
Ying-Zhong Ma1, Uvinduni I Premadasa1, Vyacheslav S Bryantsev1
1Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA. may1@ornl.gov.
Abstract:
Direct access to trans-cis photoisomerization in a metastable state photoacid (mPAH) remains challenging owing to the presence of competing excited-state relaxation pathways and multiple transient isomers with overlapping spectra. Here, we reveal the photoisomerization dynamics in an indazole mPAH using time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) spectroscopy by exploiting a unique property of this mPAH having fluorescence only from the trans isomer. The combination of these experimental results with time-dependent density function theory (TDDFT) calculations enables us to gain mechanistic insight into this key dynamical process.
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