Expanding excitation wavelengths for azobenzene photoswitching into the near-infrared range via endothermic triplet energy transfer

Abstract

Triplet energy transfer enables efficient Z-to-E photoswitching of azobenzenes even with near-infrared light. Ultrafast intersystem crossing of azobenzene makes the process entropy-driven and enables the use of endothermic sensitizer-azobenzene pairs.