Photoswitching of the magnetic interaction between a copper(II) ion and a nitroxide radical by using a photochromic spin coupler

Photoswitching of an intramolecular spin exchange interaction between a copper(II) ion and a nitroxyl radical by using a metal complex of diarylethene has been studied by means of ESR spectroscopy. As a coordination ligand, a diarylethene with a 1,10-phenanthroline ring and nitronyl nitroxide radical was synthesized. Mixing the diarylethene ligand with Cu(hfac)(2)] (hfac=hexafluoroacetylacetone) in toluene led to a hypsochromic shift of the absorption maxima of the closed-ring isomer due to complexation. ESR measurement in toluene at room temperature of the open-ring isomer of the Cu(II) complex gave a spectrum that is a superposition of the spectra from the nitroxide radical and Cu(II). When the sample was irradiated with 366 nm light, a new peak due to large exchange interaction appeared between those of the nitroxyl radical and Cu(II). This ESR measurement revealed that the magnitude of the spin exchange interaction was changed by more than 160-fold by photoirradiation. This is the largest magnetic photoswitching phenomenon recorded in diarylethene systems.