Photochromic Metallopolymer Based on Dithienylethene As a Molecular Calculator

Switchable compounds have been often described as promising candidates for electronic applications such as molecular-scale calculators. A step further is the combination of several different switchable molecules in larger functional macromolecules to design more sophisticated Boolean logic gates. Here, complex logic devices have been built via a redoxand photoactive metallopolymer based on dithienylethene-appended iron bisterpyridine units. The commutation of individual building blocks of the metallopolymer is achieved using light or an electrical stimulus, thus demonstrating a way to build multiswitchable molecular logic gates by a rational chemical design. This functional material exhibits five accessible and distinguishable stable states that can be used as AND and OR logic gates, as a half-adder or multiplexer.