Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 11, 2025
Facet-to-facet Linking of Shape-anisotropic Colloidal Cadmium Chalcogenide Nanostructures
Published on: August 10, 2017
Unlocking Enhanced Switching Capacities in DASA-Functionalized Coordination Complex
Peng-Xuan Zheng1, Di-Yu Dou1, Song-Lin Ou1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The fusion of photoswitchable molecules with coordination chemistry paves the way for the development of smart materials. This study explores the potential of Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adducts (DASAs), a novel class of organic photoswitches characterized by negative photochromism and visible-light responsiveness. To enhance their functional capabilities and overcome inherent limitations, we adopt a dual-site coordination approach, synthesizing the first well-defined crystalline coordination complex from DASAs. This complex exhibits significantly enhanced solid-state thermo- and photoswitching properties compared to the parent DASA ligand. Notably, the dynamic behavior of our coordination material enables distinct responses to various stimuli, creating multiple accessible states with tunable physical properties. These include stepped color changes and fluorochromism, which are not present in the individual components, thus highlighting new functionalities upon coordination. The ability to modulate these properties through external stimuli provides a versatile platform for applications in rewritable materials, information encoding, and molecular devices. As a demonstration, we show that "water" can serve as ink and "light" enables convenient erasable writing. This marks a significant advance in sustainable and environmentally conscious materials.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:42Valence Bond Theory
03:02Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
02:58Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
01:19Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
01:22EDTA: Chemistry and Properties
02:34Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can...