This book offers a comprehensive and forward-looking exploration of multifunctional coordination complexes, uniting molecular design, synthetic strategies, and advanced characterization techniques with practical performance insights. Covering the latest advances in photochromism, photomagnetism, long-lived phosphorescence, and electrocatalysis, it shows how light-responsive and catalytically active complexes are reshaping energy, environmental, and information technologies. Through detailed discussions of electron-transfer-type photochromic switches, photoresponsive molecular magnets for optically controlled data storage, persistent phosphorescent systems for imaging and anti-counterfeiting, and high-efficiency catalytic platforms, this book highlights the shared principles that underpin these transformative behaviors.

This book moves systematically from foundational concepts to real-world applications, guiding readers through synthesis, characterization, and performance studies across four major classes of functional complexes. Its fifteen chapters illuminate the interplay between structure, photophysics, magnetism, and catalytic activity, offering researchers a unified framework for designing smarter and more controllable materials. An essential reference for chemists, materials scientists, and nanotechnologists, it equips researchers, engineers, and graduate students to advance next-generation devices and sustainable technological solutions.

Guo-Ming Wang received his B.S. from Qufu Normal University in 2000 and his Ph.D. from the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2006. He is currently a professor and the director of the Human Resources Department at Qingdao University. His research centers on functional coordination chemistry, photochemistry, porous materials, and hybrid materials. He has published more than 200 papers in leading chemistry and materials science journals, including J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., and Chem. Soc. Rev. He has led over ten research projects, including grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Key R&D Program of Shandong Province, and holds eight authorized national invention patents. His honors include the Outstanding Graduate Supervisor of Shandong Province and the Qingdao Natural Science Award.

Ji-Xiang Hu received his B.S. from Shandong University of Science and Technology in 2010 and his Ph.D. from Dalian University of Technology in 2018. He is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Qingdao University, where he also serves as the deputy dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. His research focuses on functional coordination chemistry. He has published more than 30 SCI-indexed papers as the first or corresponding author in high-impact journals such as Nat. Commun., J. Am. Chem. Soc., and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (three papers), including two highly cited papers, one ESI hot paper, one cover article, and one VIP paper. He is a recipient of the Taishan Scholars Young Expert designation, has led three projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and has received several honors.

Gang Wei received his Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2007. He subsequently conducted research at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) as an Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Zeiss postdoctoral fellow until 2011. From 2012 to 2019, he served as a senior researcher and group leader at the University of Bremen (Germany). He was a full professor at Qingdao University from 2020 to 2024 and currently holds a full professorship at Qingdao University of Science and Technology. His research interests span biomass materials, 2D materials, supramolecular self-assembly, hydrogels, aerogels, and biomedicine. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers (citations >15,000; H-index = 71) and has been included in the World’s Top 2% Scientists list in materials science (2022–2025).