Lone pair-π interaction-induced generation of photochromic coordination networks with photoswitchable conductance

Lone pair-pi interaction-induced charge-transfer was successfully used for switching the conductance of a coordination network, through variation of the degree of charge transfer caused by external photostimulation. The underlying mechanism is attributed to the changes in efficient charge-carriers by photoinduced strong charge transfer, which was investigated by in situ UV-Vis absorption, ESR, and computational studies.