Solar‐Powered Nanomechanical Transduction from Crystalline Molecular Rotors

A photoinduced solid-state SO2 isomerism drives a larger mechanical change (benzene-ring rotation) in a neighbouring ion (i.e., the system acts as a solar-powered molecular transducer). The ring rotation and SO2 photoisomerisation are observed using in situ X-ray crystallography and are controllable, reproducible, and metastable at low temperatures. This discovery presents a new range of materials for solar-energy-based molecular transduction. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.