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Photoisomerization of a Chiral Imine Molecular Switch Followed by Matrix‐Isolation VCD Spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Pollok Corina H.,
Riesebeck Tim,
Merten Christian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201610918
Subject(s) - photoisomerization , matrix isolation , imine , isomerization , molecular switch , spectroscopy , circular dichroism , molecule , chemistry , matrix (chemical analysis) , photochemistry , stereochemistry , computational chemistry , chemical physics , organic chemistry , physics , catalysis , chromatography , quantum mechanics
Characterizing the stereochemistry of transient photoisomerization products remains a big challenge for the design of molecular machines, such as unidirectional molecular motors. Often these states are not stable long enough to be characterized in detail using conventional spectroscopic tools. The structurally simple camphorquinone imine 1 serves to illustrate the advantage of combining the matrix‐isolation technique with vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy for the investigation of photoisomerizations of chiral molecules. In particular, it is shown that both ( E )‐ and ( Z )‐ 1 can be generated photochemically at cryogenic temperatures in an argon matrix, and more importantly, that the stereochemistry of both switching states can be characterized reliably.