Nanooptomechanical Transduction in a Single Crystal with 100% Photoconversion

Materials that exhibit
nanooptomechanical transduction in their
single-crystal form have prospective use in light-driven molecular
machinery, nanotechnology, and quantum computing. Linkage photoisomerization
is typically the source of such transduction in coordination complexes,
although the isomers tend to undergo only partial photoconversion.
We present a nanooptomechanical transducer, trans-[Ru­(SO2)­(NH3)4(3-bromopyridine)]­tosylate2, whose S-bound η1-SO2 isomer
fully converts into an O-bound η1-OSO photoisomer
that is metastable while kept at 100 K. Its 100% photoconversion is
confirmed structurally via photocrystallography, while single-crystal
optical absorption and Raman spectroscopies reveal its metal-to-ligand
charge-transfer and temperature-dependent characteristics. This perfect
optical switching affords the material good prospects for nanooptomechanical
transduction with single-photon control.

单晶态下表现出纳米光机械转导（nanooptomechanical transduction）的材料，在光驱动分子机器、纳米技术与量子计算领域具有潜在应用价值。配位配合物中的此类转导通常源于键合光异构化反应，但这类异构产物往往仅能实现部分光转化。本研究报道了一种纳米光机械转导材料：trans-[Ru(SO₂)(NH₃)₄(3-溴吡啶)]二对甲苯磺酸盐，其以S原子配位的η¹-SO₂异构体可完全转化为以O原子配位的η¹-OSO光异构产物，该产物在100 K低温下呈现亚稳态。通过光晶体学（photocrystallography）结构表征证实了其100%的光转化效率，而单晶光吸收与拉曼光谱分析则揭示了该材料的金属-配体电荷转移特性及其温度依赖性。这种完美的光学开关效应使得该材料在单光子调控的纳米光机械转导领域具备良好应用前景。