Alternating Orthogonal Switching in a Thiophenyl‐Phenyl‐Bis‐Azobenzene Switch

Abstract To design efficient molecular information storage systems with multi‐photoswitchable entities, orthogonal isomerization of the different switchable moieties is essential. Various challenges, like unintentional energy transfer, spectral overlap, and other energy dissipation channels, have to be addressed by intelligent molecule design. In this context, we took advantage of calculations to design a bis‐azobenzene switch, which consists of a phenyl‐ and a thiophenylazobenzene moiety in meta‐connection to reduce π‐conjugation. Ultrafast spectroscopy and computational studies confirmed that this bis‐photoswitch exhibits alternating orthogonal switching behavior when irradiated with light of different wavelengths. These results represent a significant advancement toward the development of efficient and adaptable organic multi‐photoswitches for applications, such as information storage, molecular machines, or smart materials.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Chemistry

• Publication date

  2025-08-22

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Chemistry

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/chem.202501976PMID 40847547PMCID 12520053
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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