Light Makes Smart - Photoactive Molecular Switches for Logic Gates

Nico Meuter¹, Sebastian Spinnen¹ and Michael W. Tausch^1,

¹Didaktik der Chemie, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany

Cite this paper:
Nico Meuter, Sebastian Spinnen and Michael W. Tausch. Light Makes Smart - Photoactive Molecular Switches for Logic Gates. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2021; 9(4):96-103. doi: 10.12691/wjce-9-4-1

Abstract

This mini review presents a series of experiments in which light acts on two general phenomena: isomerization reactions and photoluminescence. The experiments described using the reversible photoactive molecular switch spiropyrane/merocyanine, is suited to teach fundamental concepts of photochemistry as well as to introduce innovative applications related to smart materials, molecular motors and logic gates.

Keywords:
molecular switch photochromism solvatochromism AIE (aggregation induced emission) molecular logic gates super resolution microscopy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	D. Pijper, B. L. Feringa. “Molecular Transmission: Controlling the Twist Sense of a Helical Polymer with a Single Light-Driven Molecular Motor”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 46, 3693-3696 (2007).
[2]	R. A. van Delden, M. K. J. ter Wiel, M. M. Pollard, J. Vicario, N. Koumura, B. L. Feringa. “Unidirectional molecular motor on a gold surface”, Nature, 437 1337-1340 (2005).
[3]	R. S. Stoll, S. Hecht, “Artificial Light-Gated Catalyst Systems”: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 49, 5054-5075 (2010)
[4]	D. Bléger, S. Hecht. “Visible-Light-Activated Molecular Switches”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 54, 11339-11349 (2015).
[5]	M. B. Leinen, P. Klein, F. L. Sebastian, N. F. Zorn, S. Adamczyk, S. Allard, U. Scherf, J. Zaumseil. “Spiropyran-Functionalized Polymer–Carbon Nanotube Hybrids for Dynamic Optical Memory Devices and UV Sensors”, Adv. Electron. Mater., 6, 2000717-2000727 (2020).
[6]	M. W. Tausch. “Ungleiche Gleichgewichte”, CHEMKON, 3, 123-127 (1996).
[7]	H. E. Prypsztejn, R. M. Negri. “An Experiment on Photochromism and Kinetics for the Undergraduate Laboratory”, J. Chem. Educ., 78, 645-648 (2001).
[8]	M. W. Tausch. “Teaching Photochemistry with Microscale Experiments. A Contribution for the Ongoing Curriculum Modernisation”, Educ. Quimica, 16, 529-533 (2005).
[9]	J. Piard. “Influence of the Solvent on the Thermal Back Reaction of One Spiropyran”, J. Chem. Educ., 91, 2105-2111 (2014).
[10]	M. W. Tausch. “Photoactive Thin Films in Science Education”, World J. Chem. Educ., 6, 14-17 (2018).
[11]	N. Meuter, S. Spinnen, Y. Yurdanur, M. W. Tausch. “Spiropyrane – a Dream Compound for Teaching Purposes – Experimental Approaches to Basic Concepts of Chemistry Using the Molecular Switch Spiropyrane/Merocyanine”, CHEMKON, 27, 169-178 (2020).
[12]	M. W. Tausch, N. Meuter, S. Spinnen. “Photoprocesses in Chemical Education. Key Experiments for Core Concepts”, Educ. Quimica, issue 3 (2017).
[13]	E. D. Bergmann, A. Weizmann, E. Fischer. “Structure and Polarity of Some Polycyclic Spiropyrans”, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 72, 5009-5012 (1950).
[14]	M. W. Tausch, N. Meuter, C. Bohrmann-Linde et al. https://chemiemitlicht.uni-wuppertal.de/en.html.
[15]	N. Meuter. “Photolumineszenz und Photochromie in Lösungen und in Feststoffmatrices – Interaktionsbox Photo-Mol“, Doctoral Thesis, Wuppertal (2019).
[16]	S. Spinnen. “Molekulare Logik mit farbabsorbierenden und -emittierenden Molekülen auf Basis von Spiropyran“, Doctoral Thesis, Wuppertal (2019).
[17]	J. Mei, Y. Hong, Lam, Jacky W Y, A. Qin, Y. Tang, B. Z. Tang. “The Whole Is More Brilliant than Parts”, Advanced materials, 26, 5429-5479 (2014).
[18]	J. Andréasson, U. Pischel. “Molecules with a sense of logic: a progress report”, Chem. Soc. Rev., issue 5 (2015).
[19]	S. Hell. “Nanoscopy with Focused Light (Nobel Lecture)” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 54, 8054-8066 (2015).
[20]	R. Brunnert, C. Bohrmann-Linde, N. Meuter, N. Pereira Vaz, S. Spinnen, Y. Yurdanur, M. W. Tausch. “The Fascinating World of Photochemistry. Video Tutorials for Core Concepts in Science Education“, Educ. Quimica, 29, 108-117 (2018).