Volume 137, Issue 8 e202420243
Forschungsartikel

Distinctive Photomechanical Shape Change of p-Phenylenediacrylic Acid Dimethyl Ester Single Crystals Induced by a Spatially Heterogeneous Photoreaction

Daichi Kitagawa

Corresponding Author

Daichi Kitagawa

Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, 558-8585 Osaka, Japan

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Rei Tomoda

Rei Tomoda

Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, 558-8585 Osaka, Japan

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Sebastian A. Ramos

Sebastian A. Ramos

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, 501 Big Springs Road, 92521 Riverside, CA, USA

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Gregory J. O. Beran

Corresponding Author

Gregory J. O. Beran

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, 501 Big Springs Road, 92521 Riverside, CA, USA

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Christopher J. Bardeen

Christopher J. Bardeen

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, 501 Big Springs Road, 92521 Riverside, CA, USA

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Seiya Kobatake

Corresponding Author

Seiya Kobatake

Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, 558-8585 Osaka, Japan

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First published: 19 November 2024
Citations: 1

Abstract

Understanding photoreaction dynamics in crystals is important for predicting the dynamic property changes accompanying these photoreactions. In this work, we investigate the photoreaction dynamics of p-phenylenediacrylic acid dimethyl ester (p-PDAMe) in single crystals that show reaction front propagation, in which the photoreaction proceeds heterogeneously from the edge to the center of the crystal. Moreover, we find that p-PDAMe single crystals exhibit a distinctive crystal shape change from a parallelogram to a distorted shape resembling a fluttering flag, then to a rectangle as the photoreaction proceeds. Density functional theory calculations predict the crystal structure after the photoreaction, providing a reasonable explanation of the distinctive crystal shape change that results from the spatially heterogeneous photoreaction. These results prove that the spatially heterogeneous photoreaction dynamics have the ability to induce novel crystal shape changes beyond what would be expected based on the equilibrium reactant and product crystal shapes.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

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