Controlling covalent connection and disconnection with light.

The on-going need for feature miniaturization and the growing complexity of structures for use in nanotechnology demand the precise and controlled formation of covalent bonds at the molecular level. Such control requires the use of external stimuli that offer outstanding spatial, temporal, as well as energetic resolution. Thus, photoaddressable switches are excellent candidates for creating a system that allows reversible photocontrol over covalent chemical connection and disconnection. Here we show that the formation of covalent bonds between two reagents and their scission in the resulting product can be controlled exclusively by illumination with differently colored light. A furyl-substituted photoswitchable diarylethene was shown to undergo a reversible Diels-Alder reaction with maleimide to afford the corresponding Diels-Alder adduct. Our system is potentially applicable in any field already relying on the benefits of reversible Diels-Alder reactions.