{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T17:22:30Z","timestamp":1787419350590,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787356800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787356800000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nat Commun"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Thermodynamic control of molecular photoswitches remains a fundamental challenge, centered on the stabilization of high-energy metastable states. Inspired by concepts of selective kinetic regulation found in Maxwell\u2019s demon-like systems, we explore hydrogen bonding as a molecular-level selector for modulating the thermal back-conversion of quadricyclane (QC) to norbornadiene (NBD). By strategically incorporating hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors, we show that these interactions build a water \u201cbridge\u201d that restricts rotational degrees of freedom. This bridge significantly elevates the kinetic barrier and redirects the isomerization along an alternative reaction coordinate. In this manner, the hydrogen-bonding system selectively regulates the thermal back-conversion dynamics and enables directional control over the isomerization kinetics, achieving up to a 5000-fold extension of the thermal half-life. This work illustrates how hydrogen bonds can facilitate precise control over back-conversion dynamics and molecular thermal stability in molecular photoswitches.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-026-76898-2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T16:35:17Z","timestamp":1787416517000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Orchestrating photoswitch thermal backconversion using hydrogen bonds to reshape energy landscapes"],"prefix":"10.1038","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3227-4965","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liang","family":"Fei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6722-5640","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zacharias","family":"Liasi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jacob L.","family":"Elholm","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helen","family":"H\u00f6lzel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0891-220X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"D. Flemming","family":"Hansen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4090-7697","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kurt V.","family":"Mikkelsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4018-4927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kasper","family":"Moth-Poulsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]},"container-title":["Nature Communications"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-026-76898-2","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T16:35:17Z","timestamp":1787416517000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-026-76898-2"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]},"references-count":0,"alternative-id":["76898"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-026-76898-2","relation":{},"ISSN":["2041-1723"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2041-1723","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]]},"assertion":[{"value":"26 February 2026","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"7 August 2026","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"22 August 2026","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics"}}]}}