Photochromic Compounds and Materials: Photodiffraction, Dynamics, and Photomechanical Effects

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In this project funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamic & Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Jeffrey Rack of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Ohio University will develop new classes of photochromic transition metal complexes. Photochromic complexes are those that change their color when exposed to light. The goal of this research is to create new examples of these complexes, to study their properties, and to discover new photoactive materials comprised of the photochromic compounds. The project lies at the interface of inorganic, physical, and materials chemistry, and is well suited to the education of scientists at all levels. Particular efforts will be made to train students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science. The overall goals of this project are to increase the number and types of photochromic transition metal complexes, to discover new photoactive materials, and to study how these photochromic transformations occur. Photochromic transition metal complexes efficiently and rapidly convert photonic energy to potential energy to trigger excited state electronic and molecular structural rearrangements. The mode of action is an excited state linkage isomerism of a bonded chelating sulfoxide from S to O and O to S. This project will examine these systems across three specific aims: 1) synthesis of new photochromic Cu sulfoxide complexes, 2) creation of new photorefractive materials comprising ruthenium sulfoxide complexes, 3) investigation of existing and new complexes by ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy.