%0 Journal Article
%T Design and synthesis of a photoswitchable guanidine catalyst
%A Philipp Viehmann
%A Stefan Hecht
%J Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.3762/bjoc.8.209
%X A novel design as well as a straight-forward synthesis for a photoswitchable guanidine catalyst is reported. Intense studies of the photochromic properties demonstrated the reversible switchability of its photosensitive azobenzene moiety. Its activity in the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of rac-lactide was investigated as well. The obtained results are discussed, and an additional guanidine was synthesized and utilized in the ROP of rac-lactide in order to explain the findings.
%K azobenzenes
%K guanidines
%K molecular switches
%K organocatalysis
%K photochromism
%K ring opening polymerization
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.3762/bjoc.8.209