Significance of a zwitterionic state for fulgide photochromism: implications for the design of mimics

Modeling and mimicry: an advanced computational model for the photocyclization of a furyl fulgide showed that a stable charge-transfer excited state, S(1), and the corresponding conical intersection with the ground state are responsible for the efficient photochromism observed in this system. This finding provides a rationale for the de novo design of related derivatives with similar (or even increased) efficiency.