Albert-Weller Award of the GDCh Division of Photochemistry

The Division of Photochemistry of the German Chemical Society and the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry award the Albert-Weller Award 2020, donated by ATTO-TEC GmbH, to Dr. Michael Peter Kathan and Dr. Yusen Luo.

The award is given to Dr. Kathan awarded in recognition of his outstanding dissertation with the title: "Photoswitching Reactivity - From Remote-Controlled to Light-Driven Chemical Systems". The award winner's impressive work deals with the fundamental question of the photochemical control of thermal equilibria Developed creative approaches to optically control and drive condensation-hydrolysis equilibria with the help of photoswitches. Through the creative coupling of photo-induced 6? electrocyclization and thermal keto-enol tautomerism, he was able to remotely control living polymerization processes on the one hand and dynamically covalent imine- Bonds contrary to their equilibrium position, ie quasi uphill, tie or break. His work has significant application potential for self-healing materials, for example in sensors and for solar recycling of polymers. The dissertation was in the working group of Prof. Dr. S tefan Hecht at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

The prize is awarded to Dr. Luo to recognize her outstanding doctoral thesis, entitled: ?Photoinduced Electron Transfer Dynamics in Ruthenium (II) Bis (terpyridine) Based Molecular Dyads and Triads?. Dr. Luo studied the photoinduced electron-transfer dynamics in covalently linked molecular dyads and triads as model systems for molecular photoredox catalysts. Using model systems comprising a Ru-terpyridin-based photosensitizer, a fullerene acceptor and a phenothiazine donor, Dr. Luo could obtain novel insights into the mechanisms of photodriven electron transfer. Resorting on temperature-dependent ultrafast time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy, Dr. Luo experimentally demonstrated novel effects, eg investigating the impact of a formally spectator ligand on the electronic coupling between photosensitizer and electron donor. Such "remote control" of electron transfer has been speculated about but has never been demonstrated experimentally before.