Photoswitchable Imines Drive Dynamic Covalent Systems to Nonequilibrium Steady States.

ABSTRACT: Coupling a photochemical reaction to a thermal exchange process can drive the latter to a nonequilibrium steady state (NESS) under photoirradiation. Typically, systems use separate motifs for photoresponse and equilibrium-related processes. Here, we show that photoswitchable imines can fulfill both roles simultaneously, autonomously driving a dynamic covalent system into a NESS under continuous light irradiation. We demonstrate this using transimination reactions, where E-to-Z photoisomerism generates a more kinetically labile species. At the NESS, energy is stored both in the metastable Z-isomer of the imine and in the system's nonequilibrium constitution; when the light is switched off, this stored energy is released as the system reverts to its equilibrium state. Th

SUBMITTER: Wu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11295185 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature