There's a new motor in town! 🏎️ 🔬 Out in @natchem.nature.com , our latest study introduces a light-driven diazene molecular rotary motor able not only to achieve directional motion, but also to invert the rotation by varying the colour of the light supplied. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Wavelength-steered directional rotation in an autonomous light-driven molecular motor - Nature Chemistry

The rational design of autonomous light-powered molecular motors remains a formidable challenge in nanoscience. Now, a photochemically driven diazene-based rotary motor has been shown to rotate around...

nature.com

Our group has 2 PhD positions (funded 3 years) available from October 1 working on stimuli-responsive and spin-crossover cages. Details and how to apply are in the links below (deadline June 30) jobs.uni-siegen.de/job/Research... jobs.uni-siegen.de/job/Research...

If you fancy being productive on the weekend, cast your vote for the RSC President. I'll be voting for Dave 🎩 🪄 He has supported me and my recently established group (above and beyond!) and I look forward to seeing his positive influence on the RSC community!

Dave Leigh@profdaveleigh.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hi folks, I’m on the ballot for President of the @rsc.org. I’m standing because we live in post-truth times where respect for expertise & evidence can no longer be taken for granted. It’s time to push back. If that resonates, RSC members can vote here www.mi-vote.com/secure/rsc 🗳️🙏

Congrats to Mahni for passing his viva with flying colours on a glorious spring day. Many thanks to @jakeylg.bsky.social and Dan Congrave for acting as examiners and to David O’Hagan as convener. #tadfsolutions @standrewschem.bsky.social @standrewsosc.bsky.social @ezc-group.bsky.social

Dr Jiarong Wu @jiarongwu.bsky.social gives her award lecture on designing photoswitchable imines and driving them out-of-equilibrium during her PhD #MASC2025 #RSC_MASC

Very proud of @jiarongwu.bsky.social! Great talks from both winners!

RSC MASC@rsc-masc.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Congrats to Dr Simona Bianco (University of Glasgow) and Dr Jiarong Wu @jiarongwu.bsky.social (University of St Andrews/Universität Würzburg) who were awarded the 2025 RSC MASC Group PhD Thesis Award trophy 🏆 given in memory of John Fossey! #MASC2025 #RSC_MASC

Jiarong’s award is “for groundbreaking work on bringing imine photoswitches to practical use and pioneering their application in driving chemical systems to non-equilibrium steady states with light”. (3/4)

Congrats to both of you! Exceptionally proud of @jiarongwu.bsky.social and her dedication to her PhD. This is really well deserved recognition of her efforts!

RSC MASC@rsc-masc.bsky.social · 8mo ago

📣 Announcement 📣 We are delighted to announce that the 2025 RSC MASC Group PhD Thesis Award 🏆, given in the memory of John Fossey, goes to both Simona Bianco (University of Glasgow) and Jiarong Wu @jiarongwu.bsky.social (University of St Andrews/Universität Würzburg). Congratulations both! (1/4)

📢Our team will be advertising a number of fully-funded positions in the coming months (new photoswitch-based projects)💡🚨 Applicants from the 🇪🇺 and 🇨🇳 are encouraged. More info will be coming soon and advertised on our website imineswitch.com #photoswitch #imine

Check out this new Perspective in Chemical Science from @jiarongwu.bsky.social and @jakeylg.bsky.social (Universitat Würzburg, Germany)! 'Light them up: photoresponsive imine-containing systems' Read it here for free: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC... #ChemSciHOT #ChemSky

See the collection on Molecular Motors and Machines: www.nature.com/collections/... and learn from Curie, Einstein, and Lewis www.nature.com/articles/s42... how directionality can be controlled at the molecular level through kinetic asymmetry.

📢New perspective on light responsive imine-based systems out now in @chemicalscience.rsc.org with @jiarongwu.bsky.social 💡🚨🔦 This is part of the 2025 Leading Investigators Collection, Thank you to the reviewers for input 🙏 #hot #photoswitch #imine imineswitch.com doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...

📢 🎉🎊 Really honoured to announce that I have been awarded an @erc.europa.eu StG for our project (HeliOS)💡🌞This project will be looking at out-of-equilibrium helical structures... more on this soon... (big thanks to those who helped along the way🙏) imineswitch.com #ERCStG

📢Very excited to announce that our team will be moving to @standrewschem.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 later this month. I am so very grateful to @wuerthnergroup.bsky.social 🇩🇪for support over the last 3-years and stoked for our teams future! Check out an updated website at imineswitch.com 🚨🔦💡

Just shortly after the 3rd (😱) anniversary of my PhD defense, a work of my thesis got accepted in @chemicalscience.rsc.org 🚀 If you're interested in dual-responsive #photoswitches, check the link out, it's 💎🔓! #ChemSky #ChemPubs

Three-state molecular switch based on terarylene photo- or redox-induced reversible isomerisation

Multi-addressable molecular photoswitches whose isomerisation can be triggered not only by light, but also by other stimuli are appealing for the development of novel smart materials as well as for br...

doi.org

🚨📢Improving the photoswitching properties of N-alkyl imines, out now in @jacs.acspublications.org 🤔Insights from our previous work led @jiarongwu.bsky.social, Lasse and I to tune the properties of these N-alkyl systems🛠️, where we also observed isomer-dependent fluorescence!💡🔦 doi.org/10.1021/jacs...

Enhancing the Photoswitching Properties of N-Alkyl Imines

N-Alkyl imines are prevalent in dynamic-covalent chemistry and self-assembled structures, yet their E/Z photochromism is often overlooked due to the high-energy light required for isomerization. Here, we present a simple strategy to enhance their photoswitching properties, achieving switching wavelengths and photostationary state distributions comparable to azobenzene. Moreover, we demonstrate that these N-alkyl imines undergo photoisomerization in the condensed phase and exhibit isomer-dependent fluorescence. We anticipate that this study will inspire the design of photoresponsive architectures that operate directly at the dynamic-covalent bond, eliminating the need for dedicated photoswitchable motifs.

doi.org

Online now: Harnessing light to drive a non-photoresponsive reaction out of equilibrium

Harnessing light to drive a non-photoresponsive reaction out of equilibrium

A light-fueled reaction drives a non-photoresponsive process out of equilibrium. The system features a dynamic-covalent network of four imines: two are photoswitchable and undergo light-driven transimination at 405 nm, while the others are unresponsive. Illumination establishes a non-equilibrium steady state, with feedback between the coupled reactions pushing the system further from equilibrium. This work offers a blueprint for using light to drive non-photoresponsive transiminations away from equilibrium.

dlvr.it

🚨📢Out now in #Chem, @jiarongwu.bsky.social and I figure out how to perturb a non-photoresponsive reaction(🌚) out of equilibrium using our imine-based photoswitches🔦💡This is achieved using a light-responsive transimination!(🌝) #AIPs #imine #OpenAccess #ChemSky doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...

🎉 Big day for our group: our first publication is out! Tom did a fantastic job highlighting current trends & opportunities in peptide catalysis — now published in Chem Catalysis (open access). Huge congrats, Tom! www.cell.com/chem-catalys...

Peptide catalysis: Trends and opportunities

Peptides are highly selective organocatalysts, with intrinsic modularity allowing precise control over structure and function. Advances in peptide synthesis, biotechnology, and cheminformatics will en...

cell.com

Woohoo!🍻 The first contribution from our team on photoswitchable imines was highlighted as one of @chemicalscience.rsc.org most popular articles in 2024 😀 #chemsky #ChemSciMostPopular

Chemical Science@chemicalscience.rsc.org · last yr.

We are pleased to announce that our 2024 most popular article collections are now online! Check out the links below for the most popular articles from last year in your field: Analytical Chemistry pubs.rsc.org/en/jour... Catalysis pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...

Chemical Biology pubs.rsc.org/en/jour... Energy & Environmental Chemistry pubs.rsc.org/en/jour... Inorganic Chemistry pubs.rsc.org/en/jour... Materials Chemistry pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...

@jiarongwu.bsky.social gave an excellent (!!!) talk on her work at BiOrgMCT in Sofia, Bulgaria. 💡🚨🚥 Very proud!!! 😀 (and jealous of her artistic/animation skills)

A bit late, but I wanted to say thanks for the support from those that voted for me to receive this award for my presentation at the chemiedozentungang! It means a lot to us! 😀🙏

Thank you @henloeditorfren.bsky.social 😀

Marc Kielmann Bolten@henloeditorfren.bsky.social · last yr.

Great lecture by Jake L. Greenfield @jakeylg.bsky.social on how to drive #transimination reactions uphill with imine #photoswitches. Happening now at the #Chemiedozententagung #CDT2025.

Thank you to @szyszkobart.bsky.social for organising such a great trip! And it was excellent to hear about all the work being done in Wroclaw, and meeting you @siliconcage.bsky.social 😀 Great science, nice company, good food and amazing beer 🍺

Łukasz John | Biomaterials Chemistry Group 🇵🇱🇪🇺@siliconcage.bsky.social · last yr.

Thank you, Jake @jakeylg.bsky.social, for visiting us! Bartek @szyszkobart.bsky.social, fantastic organization - well done! 👌🏼

The struggle is real. #exotic #condiment #sarson's #vinegar

Who wants to come and work with our group @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social on photoswitches and photopharmacology 🙋‍♀️🙋🏻🙋‍♂️ Apply for our open #chempostdoc position now! Deadline 28th Feb. Reposts appreciated #Chemsky my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

a beam of green light is shining on a black background

ALT: a beam of green light is shining on a black background

media.tenor.com

Peng-Lai, @stefanborsley.bsky.social, Martin & our collaborators Alessandro and @giusepponelab.bsky.social demonstrate how a catalyst transduces chemical energy to perform mechanical work in www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @nature.com. tinyurl.com/jny7nen5. Animation @scicommstudios.bsky.social😀

Here is a tentative Supramolecular Chemistry starter kit. Please let me know if you wish to be added ! #ChemSky go.bsky.app/RjRgi6n

It's that time of year again, Happy Die Hard day! #diehard #nakatomiplaza #xmasmovie #xmaseve 🎄 #yippee #ki #yay