Unravelling photoisomerization dynamics in a metastable-state photoacid.
Ying-Zhong MaUvinduni I PremadasaVyacheslav S BryantsevAudrey R MilesIlia N IvanovAdnan ElgattarYi LiaoBenjamin DoughtyPublished in: Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP (2024)
Direct access to trans - cis photoisomerization in a metastable state photoacid (mPAH) remains challenging owing to the presence of competing excited-state relaxation pathways and multiple transient isomers with overlapping spectra. Here, we reveal the photoisomerization dynamics in an indazole mPAH using time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) spectroscopy by exploiting a unique property of this mPAH having fluorescence only from the trans isomer. The combination of these experimental results with time-dependent density function theory (TDDFT) calculations enables us to gain mechanistic insight into this key dynamical process.