TY - JOUR A1 - Matis, Jochen René A1 - Schönborn, Jan Boyke A1 - Saalfrank, Peter T1 - A multi-reference study of the byproduct formation for a ring-closed dithienylethene photoswitch T2 - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Photodriven molecular switches are sometimes hindered in their performance by forming byproducts which act as dead ends in sequences of switching cycles, leading to rapid fatigue effects. Understanding the reaction pathways to unwanted byproducts is a prerequisite for preventing them. This article presents a study of the photochemical reaction pathways for byproduct formation in the photochromic switch 1,2-bis-(3-thienyl)-ethene. Specifically, using single- and multi-reference methods the post-deexcitation reaction towards the byproduct in the electronic ground state S0 when starting from the S1–S0 conical intersection (CoIn), is considered in detail. We find an unusual low-energy pathway, which offers the possibility for the formation of a dyotropic byproduct. Several high-energy pathways can be excluded with high probability. Y1 - 2015 UR - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/8958 SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 IS - 17 SP - 14088 EP - 14095 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER -