'In-situ' charge-density studies of photoinduced phenomena: possibilities for the future?

Over the past decade, there has been much development in the structure determination of photoinduced species by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Such work is key to understanding many photoactivated chemical processes and physical properties that are behind phenomena such as photoisomerism, photoinduced chemical reactions, light-induced spin-crossover transitions and molecular excited states that are responsible for many types of fluorescence and phosphorescence. A brief overview of these experimental developments is presented in relation to the attraction of conducting charge-density studies on photoinduced structures. The technical issues regarding possible charge-density studies using these developments, both in the metastable and time-resolved domain, are highlighted in the form of a perspective towards future possibilities for photoinduced charge-density studies. The paper concludes with a summary of further experimental developments that are unfolding and how these may contribute to the ultimate viability of 'in-situ' charge-density studies on photoinduced phenomena.