Sterically crowding the bridge of dithienylcyclopentenes for enhanced photoswitching performance.

Better switching: The introduction of bulky substituents into the bridge moiety of dithienylethenes led to derivatives exhibiting high photocyclization quantum yields. This novel and versatile form of substitution facilitated tuning of the switching performance without compromising on the optical and redox properties of the ring-open and ring-closed forms (see scheme).