Molecular Switches

“This book will appeal most to organic chemists, because of the way new structures are introduced through their synthesis, but it will also provide a useful introduction for other scientists, provided they are conversant with molecular structures.”(Perkin Transactions, No.19, 2001)

Every day we use switches to turn electric appliances on and off and no computer could function without them. Molecular switches work in the same way, changing from state one to another depending on environmental influences. However, as opposed to normal switches, molecular switches are extremely tiny and their application in nanotechnology, biomedicine and computer chip design opens up whole new horizons.

In this manual, the editor and authors describe molecular switches made of catenates and rotaxanes, dihydroazulenes, fulgides, liquid crystals and polypeptides. The spectrum of topics discussed ranges from chiroptical switches via multifunctional systems to molecular logic systems and biomolecular switches.

A wealth of information for chemists and materials scientists in industry and academia interested in one of the most innovative branches of their discipline.

Table of Contents:

• Preface.
• List of Contributors.
• Abbreviations and Symbols.
• Approaches to a Molecular Switch Using Photoinduced Electron and Energy Transfer.
• Photoswitchable Molecular Systems Based on Diarylethenes.
• Optoelectronic Molecular Switches Based on Dihydroazulene-Vinylheptafulvene (DHA-VHF).
• Molecular Switches with Photochromic Fulgides.
• Chiroptical Molecular Switches.
• Photochemical Biomolecular Switches: The Route to Optobioelectronics.
• Switchable Catenanes and Molecular Shuttles.
• Metallo-Rotaxanes and Catenanes as Redox Switches: Towards Molecular Machines and Motors.
• Switchable Molecular Receptors and Recognition Processes: From Photoresponsive Crown Ethers to
• Allosteric Sugar Sensing Systems.
• Multistate/Multifunctional Molecular-level Systems - Photochromic Flavylium Compounds.
• Molecular Logic Systems.
• Liquid Crystal Photonics: Opto-photochemical Effects in Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals.
• Photoswitchable Polypeptides.
• Index.

*Editor's Note: The brief summary and the contents of the books are reported as provided by the author or the publishers. Authors and publishers are encouraged to send review copies of their recent books of potential interest to readers of Molecules to the Editor-in-Chief (Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, MDPI, Saengergasse 25, CH-4054 Basel, Switzerland. Tel. +41 79 322 3379, Fax +41 61 302 8918, E-mail: molinfo@mdpi.org). Some books will be offered to the scholarly community for the purpose of preparing full-length reviews.