All‐Visible‐Light Triggered Photoswitch of Dithienylethene Derivatives with Molecular Conformation Changes Excess 5 Å

Abstract Developing new all‐visible‐light driven fluorescent molecular switches has attracted much interests due to their important application prospects in materials science and life science. Herein, three novel all‐visible‐light triggered fluorescent molecular photoswitches (2P3, 4F, and 4Cl) are designed and prepared, which are realized by prolonging π‐conjugation length with aggregated‐induced emission units. These photoswitches show reversible photochromic and fluorescent switching in dilute solutions and films under 420 nm and 560 nm irradiations. Meanwhile, upon alternating irradiations with 450 nm/560 nm light, effective photochromic and fluorescent switching in powder states are also achieved. More interestingly, two distinct conformations with different photochromic abilities can be altered by solvents polarity. The size difference of the two conformations is over 5 Å in the vertical direction which is one of the largest changes among photochromic molecules based on dithienylethene. The accompanying conformational changes are analysed to understand the relationship between solvent characteristics and crystal structure, as well as the intermolecular interaction in solid state for all‐visible‐light triggered photoswitching molecules.