Photocrystallography

This review describes the development and application of a new crystallographic technique that is starting to enable the three-dimensional structural determination of molecules in their photo-activated states. So called 'photocrystallography' has wide applicability, particularly in the currently exciting area of photonics, and a discussion of this applied potential is put into context in this article. Studies are classified into four groups: photo-structural changes that are (i) irreversible; (ii) long-lived but reversible under certain conditions; (iii) transient with photo-active lifetimes of the order of microseconds; (iv) very short lived, existing at the nanosecond or even picosecond level. As photo-structural changes relative to the 'ground state' can be subtle, this article necessarily concentrates on small-molecule single-crystal X-ray diffraction given that high atomic resolution is possible. That said, where it is pertinent, references are also made to related major advances in photo-induced macromolecular crystallography. The review concludes with an outlook on this new research area, including the future possibility of studying even more ephemeral, femtosecond-lived, photo-active species.