Journal article

Optical cavity enhancement of visible light-driven photochemical reaction in the crystalline state

I Sasaki, K Takahashi, F Taemaitree, T Nakamura, JA Hutchison, H Uji-I, K Hirai

Chemical Communications | ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY | Published : 2025

Abstract

Photochemical reactions enable the synthesis of energetically unfavorable compounds but often require irradiation with ultraviolet light, which potentially induces side reactions. Here, cavity strong coupling enhances the efficiency of an all-solid state photocyclization in crystals of 2,4-dimethoxy-β-nitrostyrene under irradiation with visible light. The exposure to visible light facilitates photocyclization by the transition to a lower polaritonic state, which is energetically lower than the original transition state.

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by JSPS KAKENHI


Awarded by KU Leuven Internal Funds


Awarded by JST PRESTO


Awarded by JST ACT-X


Awarded by Australian Research Council Future Fellowship scheme


Awarded by Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (24K01447, 23H04877, 23K17856, 21H04634), KU Leuven Internal Funds (C14/19/079), JST PRESTO (JPMJPR18TA), JST ACT-X (JPMJAX23DB) and Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO) research grant. We thank the Open Facility at Hokkaido University for allowing us to use Raman microscopy. This work was supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program. J. A. H. thanks the Australian Government for funding through the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship scheme (FT180100295) and Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (CE170100026).