Multiscale Approach of Photochromism: Synthesis and Photochromic Properties of a Diarylethene in Solution, in Nanoparticles, and in Bulk Crystals

A new photochromic diarylethene, 1,2-bis(5'-ethoxy-2'-(2'-pyridyl) thiazolyl) perfluorocyclopentene (1), is synthesized. Nanoparticles are obtained by laser ablation at both 355 and 532 nm, corresponding to the absorption wavelengths of open and the closed forms. 1 can be reversibly photoswitched in various states: organic solution, bulk crystal, nanoparticle colloidal solution, and single nanoparticle, as demonstrated by dark-field scattering spectroscopy.