Basic-to-acidic reversible pH switching with a merocyanine photoacid

• The application of merocyanine photoacids has previously been largely limited to neutral and acidic pH values. Here we introduce a new merocyanine photoacid with superior pH switching qualities. By increasing the pK(a) in the dark (pKdark(a)) and the solubility we increased the reversible visible light induced pH jump to 3.5 units. Moreover, it is the first demonstration of a merocyanine photoacid able to generate a significant pH drop from a basic (pH 8.3) to an acidic (pH 5.2) environment.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Analytisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Analytical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)