Abstract
We show by ultrafast time resolved spectroscopy that the photoconversion from dihy-droazulene (DHA) to vinylheptafulvene (VHF) is governed by two mechanisms: The ring opening proceeds on the excited energy surface on the picosecond time scale. It is followed by an internal conversion to the VHF ground state that is accelerated by the presence of a conical intersection in the case of cyclopenta-DHA. This conical intersection hinders the photoinduced back reaction from the final VHF products. However, we successfully photoconverted the cyanophenyl-VHF-cis back to the DHA in an experiment with two delayed pulses. This opens the route to the development of bistable dihydroazulene switches.
© 2004 Optical Society of America
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