1937年,Hartley研究了光对偶氮苯N=N双键构型的影响,随后开展了广泛的偶氮方面的研究.偶氮苯衍生物作为一种分子开关,它可以受不同波长紫外光照射而产生不同的顺、反构象,可以应用于信息存储记录、光波导材料、滤光器和耦合器材料、光开关材料以及光可控的“分子剪刀”等方面,但偶氮苯作为分子开关,其反式异构体在室温下可以稳定存在,而顺式异构体在室温条件下只能存在几分钟或几天,大大制约了其应用.
A novel azo compound with 'dumbbell shape' was synthesized successfully and characterized by MALDI-MS, FTIR, elemental analysis, ^1 H NMR and ^13 C NMR. UV-Vis spectrum was used to monitor the trans-cis isomerization and theoretical calculations were used to rnodelize the trans and cis isomers. The trans and cis isomers of the ' dumbbell shape' azo compound are both stable at room temperature because of the large end group.