Recently, metastable‐state photoacids have been widely used to control proton transfer in numerous chemical and biological processes as well as applications with visible light. Generally, substituents have a great influence on the photochemical properties of molecules, which will further affect their applications. Yet, the effects of substituents on metastable‐state photoacids have not been studied systematically. In this work, 16 metastable‐state photoacid derivatives were designed and synthesized on the basis of substituents having a large range of σ–π electron–donor–acceptor capabilities. The effects of substituents on the color display [or maximum absorption band(s)], solubility, pK_a values, dark/photoacidity, photosensitivity, and relaxation kinetic(s) were investigated in detail. This study will be helpful for the targeted design and synthesis of promising photoacids and the application of their photocontrolled proton‐release processes in functional materials/devices.

中文翻译：

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取代基对亚稳态光酸的影响：其光化学性质的设计，合成和评估

最近，亚稳态光酸已被广泛用于控制许多化学和生物过程以及可见光应用中的质子转移。通常，取代基对分子的光化学性质有很大的影响，这将进一步影响其应用。然而，取代基对亚稳态光酸的影响尚未得到系统的研究。在这项工作中，在具有大范围σ-π电子-给体-受体能力的取代基的基础上，设计和合成了16种亚稳态光酸衍生物。取代基对颜色显示的影响[或最大吸收带]，溶解度，p K _a值，暗/光酸度，光敏性和松弛动力学被详细研究。这项研究将有助于有前途的光酸的目标设计和合成，以及其光控质子释放过程在功能材料/器件中的应用。