Tunable photofluorochromic switch driven by dynamic through-space conjugation.

Zuping Xiong, Jianyu Zhang, Qian Li, Xiong Liu, Yanan Wang, Xiang Li, Zhaosheng Qian, Jing Zhi Sun, Ben Zhong Tang, Haoke Zhang

Abstract read

PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher

In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Zuping Xiong *MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2661-6615

Jianyu Zhang *MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5213-7063

Qian Li *Key Laboratory of Quantum Materials Under Extreme Conditions in Shandong Province, School of Physics Science and Information Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China.

Xiong LiuMOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-7782-9796

Yanan WangKey Laboratory of Quantum Materials Under Extreme Conditions in Shandong Province, School of Physics Science and Information Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China.

Xiang LiMOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Zhaosheng QianKey Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, PR China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2134-8300

Jing Zhi SunMOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5478-5841

Ben Zhong TangDepartment of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and State Key Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0293-964X

Haoke ZhangMOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. zhanghaoke@zju.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7309-2506

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 22575211National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 524B2036

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Light is a powerful stimulus for regulating molecular functions, yet achieving precise and efficient photoswitching remains a significant challenge in organic materials, particularly in the aggregate state. Here we report a strategy based on dynamic through-space conjugation (TSC) to regulate photoswitching in Schiff-base crystals. Upon photoexcitation, the system undergoes an excited-state intramolecular proton transfer followed sequentially by cis-trans keto isomerization, a process in which electrons near the nitrogen atom dynamically couple with adjacent π-donors. This transient nitrogen-based TSC, captured by the femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and corroborated by high-pressure experiments and calculations, modulates both the transition-state barrier and the stability of the metastable state, thereby markedly enhancing photoswitching efficiency. Beyond mechanistic insight, this study introduces a design paradigm that exploits dynamic nitrogen-based TSC to engineer light-driven logic devices, with broad implications extending from artificial vision sensors to molecular motors.

Identifiers

PMID42660927

DOI10.1038/s41467-026-76182-3

PMCPMC13521894

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.