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Yet, despite decades of studies, a detailed atomic-level structural understanding of how isomerization occurs remains elusive for most molecules. Even for azobenzene, a textbook case of\n                    <jats:italic>trans<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2013\n                    <jats:italic>cis<\/jats:italic>\n                    isomerization with its deceptively simple structure of two phenyl rings linked by an azo bridge, the mechanism remains contentious. Extensive experimental and theoretical studies\n                    <jats:sup>1\u201333<\/jats:sup>\n                    have proposed disparate pathways, including rotation\n                    <jats:sup>1\u201315<\/jats:sup>\n                    , inversion\n                    <jats:sup>16\u201319<\/jats:sup>\n                    , hula twist\n                    <jats:sup>20,21<\/jats:sup>\n                    and inversion-assisted rotation\n                    <jats:sup>22\u201330<\/jats:sup>\n                    , without reaching consensus owing to the lack of direct structural evidence. Here we apply femtosecond X-ray liquidography to\n                    <jats:italic>trans<\/jats:italic>\n                    -azobenzene in solution and resolve, with atomic-level precision, the molecular structures of two transient intermediates bridging the\n                    <jats:italic>trans<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>cis<\/jats:italic>\n                    forms. The unveiled structures reveal that the\n                    <jats:italic>trans<\/jats:italic>\n                    -to-\n                    <jats:italic>cis<\/jats:italic>\n                    conversion proceeds through a sequence of distinct motions, initiated by C\u2013N torsion, a motion that has received little attention in previous studies, and subsequently dominated by N\u2013N rotation. This work provides structural insights into the volume-conserving nature of azobenzene isomerization and establishes X-ray liquidography as a versatile tool for molecular filming of structural dynamics in solutes lacking heavy atoms, overcoming the limitations imposed by dominant solvent scattering.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-026-11068-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T15:03:19Z","timestamp":1790780599000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["X-ray liquidography decodes complex motions in azobenzene isomerization"],"prefix":"10.1038","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9550-3038","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jungmin","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8273-6596","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hosung","family":"Ki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3434-2418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seonggon","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6600-554X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alekos","family":"Segalina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4123-5813","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yunbeom","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0397-5965","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyotcherl","family":"Ihee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"11068_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1016\/0009-2614(77)85154-3","volume":"46","author":"WS Struve","year":"1977","unstructured":"Struve, W. 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