New photochromic 1,2-diarylperfluorocyclopentenes bearing unsymmetrical six-membered aryl units

摘要

A new class of unsymmetrical photochromic diarylethenes based on the six-membered naphthalene-benzene and naphthalene-pyridine backbones has been firstly developed and their properties have been discussed. The two different six-membered aryl moieties were connected directly to the central cyclo-pentene ring and available to participate in the photoinduced cyclization reaction. The three diarylethenes exhibit distinctly different photochromism by photoirradiation in solution: they turn red, yellow, and orange upon photocyclization, which may be resulted from the different substituent and six-membered aryl moiety effects. Compared with the analog bearing a benzene unit, diarylethene bearing a pyridine moiety has a shorter absorption maximum and a smaller fluorescent quantum yield, and it shows a dual-addressable photo-switch by photoirradiation and acid/base stimulation.