The photoisomerization reaction dynamics of a retinal chromophore in the visual receptor rhodopsin was investigated by means of hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The photoisomerization reaction of retinal constitutes the primary step of vision and is known as one of the fastest reactions in nature. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of...

Photophysical processes of merocyanine 540 (MC540) are studied using picosecond time-resolved emission spectroscopy. The nonradiative rate of MC540 increases from 0.32 × 109 s-1 in dioxane to 8.73 × 109 s-1 in water, i.e., nearly 27 times. This is attributed to the decrease in the barrier of photoisomerization with increase in polarity and the consequent increase in the rate of photoisomerizati...

Two sequential transformations of the orientational structure in nematic liquid crystal droplets containing a dendrimer additive (nanosized macromolecules with light-absorbing azobenzene terminal moieties) under light irradiation in the UV-blue spectral range were investigated. The origin of these transitions is in the change of the boundary conditions due to photoisomerization of the dendrimer...

A molecular motor that has been previously shown to rotate when fueled by electrons through a scanning tunneling microscope tip functionalized with terarylene photochrome fragment on its rotating subunit. Photoisomerization performed under UV irradiation. Variable-temperature 1H NMR and UV–vis studies demonstrate the rotational motion braking action after photoisomerization. The can be reversed...

This article introduces two topics on surface mediated photoinduced effects : photoalignment control of liquid crystals (LCs) and mass transport process in azobenzene-containing polymers. Due to a large cooperative behavior LCs, the photoisomerization azobenzene substrate (command layer) can alignment number LC molecules. Recent work has revealed that command layer be also set at free for polym...

Light induced isothermal phase transition leading from smectic A* phase to a stable blue phase was achieved via photoisomerization of a chiral diphenylbutadiene based mesogen.

Most known applications of saccharin and saccharyl derivatives and their potential for new uses rely on the thermal and photochemical stability of the saccharyl system. Here, we show that saccharin undergoes structural rearrangement when subjected to a narrow-band ultraviolet irradiation. Monomeric saccharin was isolated in low-temperature argon matrices and its photochemistry was characterized...

The preparation of monodisperse azobenzene (Azo) polymer microspheres by dispersion polymerization was reported. photo-induced fusion Azo successfully achieved during the process reversible trans-cis-trans photoisomerization units, and induced various unique “microsphere molecular” clusters or polymers”. Encouraged this interesting phenomenon, microsphere different topological structures were s...