Properties and Synthesis of a Novel Unsymmetrical Photochromic Diarylethene Functional Material

A new unsymmetrical photochromic diarylethene, 1-(3-thienyl)-2-(2- n-butyl-5-hydroxymethyl-3-thienyl) perfluoroncyclopentene (1a), was synthesized and its optoelectronic properties, such as photochromism and fluorescence in solution and in PMMA film were investigated. This compound exhibited remarkable photochromism, changing from colorless to pink after irradiation with UV light in hexane solution. The new diarylethene also exhibited relatively strong fluorescence by photoirradiation in solution and in PMMA film, and the fluorescence intensity decreased along with the photochromism upon irradiation 297 nm light and its closed-ring isomer showed almost no fluorescence