Certain molecular functionalities, known as photoswitches, undergo a defined structural change when exposed to light of specific wavelengths. Over the last years, the RESOLV research group led by Prof. Dr. Guido Clever at TU Dortmund has achieved numerous successes in incorporating photoswitches into so-called coordination cages. These cages, formed through a process termed self-assembly, have nanometer-sized cavities for hosting guest molecules, serving as receptors, transporters, and catalysts. As they are formed and operated in solution, understanding and controlling the interplay of the guests with solvent molecules has turned out to be a crucial factor. This is of particular relevance when photoswitchable building blocks are incorporated that – together with reversibly opened and closed coordination bonds – enable to achieve structural reorganization and light-induced uptake and guest release processes under external influence (see previous RESOLV paper together with group of Prof. Lars Schäfer).
Now, Elie Benchimol, Dr. Jacopo Tessarolo and Prof. Clever summarized progress in this subfield of supramolecular chemistry in a perspective article in the prestigious journal Nature Chemistry, focusing on systems based on palladium(II) cations and ligands with integrated photoswitches. Three scenarios are distinguished when incorporating photoswitches: bistable systems enable reversible switching between different forms; metastable systems allow for slow interconversion between light-induced states and third, a low activation barrier requires continuous irradiation to maintain a high-energy state in the form of a dissipative system.
Molecular functionalities, known as photoswitches, undergo a structural change when exposed to light of specific wavelengths. Recently, a RESOLV research group led by Prof. Dr. Guido Clever at TU Dortmund has summarized cutting edge work on photoswitch containing coordination cages in Nature Chemistry.
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Guido Clever, TU Dortmund
Benchimol, E., Tessarolo, J. & Clever, G.H. Photoswitchable coordination cages. Nat. Chem. 16, 13–21 (2024). doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01387-8