Synthesis and Properties of a Novel Diarylethene with a Benzene Unit

A novel photochromic diarylethene compound, 1-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-(2-methyl-5-(2-pyridyl)-3-thienyl) perfluorocyclopentene (1o) was synthesized and its photochemical properties, such as photochromism in solution as well as in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) amorphous films, fluorescences and photo-mode rewritable recording were investigated. The results showed that the compound exhibits good photochromism and notable fluorescence photoswitches. It had attractive properties for high capacity optical storage and would be useful in molecular scale optoelectronics. Keywords-diarylethene; benzene unit; photochromism; optical storage