https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.P04622
Photochemical process leading to an isomerization of the substrate, either by bond rotation, skeletal rearrangement or atom- or group- transfer.
Notes:
- Typical examples are cis-trans photosomerization of alkenes, polyenes and phototautomerization.
- Photochemical pathways have the advantage over thermal and catalytic methods of giving isomer mixtures (photostationary states) rich in thermodynamically unstable isomers.
- Photoisomerization is the primary photochemical reaction of the chromophore in several biological photoreceptors such as retinal proteins (e.g., rhodopsin), phytochromes, and the photoactive yellow protein.