An automated photo-isomerisation and kinetics characterisation system for molecular photoswitches

Journal article, 2025

Physical chemistry parameters such as absorbance, photoconversion quantum yield, and thermal half-lives are crucial for the characterisation of new molecular photoswitch systems. In a traditional workflow, these parameters are challenging and time-consuming to measure. In this paper, a high-throughput flow-based photoswitch characterisation platform with a built-in broad-spectrum LED array and thermal back-conversion capabilities is developed with UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis tools to reduce materials consumption, limit laborous workflows, and improve experimental reproducibility. Following the experiments, an in-house developed Python program is used for easy and fast data analysis. The program is designed to be able to analyse different types of photoswitches depending on the molecular properties. The specific components and configurations are detailed, enabling reproducibility and adaptation to various experimental needs. This system demonstrates the potential for efficient, high-throughput analysis in spectroscopic studies. Wide applicability is underlined by showing the results and comparison of three different photoswitch types, norbornadienes, bicyclooctadienes, and azobenzenes. The results we obtain are in good agreement with reported values in the literature.