Flexible interlocked porous frameworks allow quantitative photoisomerization in a crystalline solid

Photochromic molecules have shown much promise as molecular components of stimuli-responsive materials, but despite recent achievements in various photoresponsive materials, quantitative conversion in photochemical reactions in solids is hampered by the lack of intrinsic structural flexibility available to release stress and strain upon photochemical events. This issue remains one of the challenges in developing solid-state photoresponsive materials. Here, we report a strategy to realize photoresponsive crystalline materials showing quantitative reversible photochemical reactions upon ultraviolet and visible light irradiation by introducing structural flexibility into crystalline porous frameworks with a twofold interpenetration composed of a diarylethene-based ligand. The structural flexibility of the porous framework enables highly efficient photochemical electrocyclization in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal manner. CO2 sorption on the porous crystal at 195 K is reversibly modulated by light irradiation, and coincident X-ray powder diffraction/sorption measurements clearly demonstrate the flexible nature of the twofold interpenetrated frameworks.Organizing photochromic molecules into 3D networks is a key strategy to access photoresponsive materials, but framework rigidity typically limits conversion efficiency. Here, the authors exploit a flexible metal-organic framework to achieve quantitative and reversible photoisomerization in a porous crystalline solid.