Synthesis and Photochromism Studies of 1-(2-methyl-3-benzothiophene)-2-[2-methyl-5-(4-aminomethanephenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene

A new unsymmetrical photochromic diarylethene compound, 1-(2-methyl-3-benzothiophene)-2-[2-methyl-5-(4-aminomethanephenyl)-3-thienyperfluorocyclopentene ( 1a ) was synthesized, its photochromic properties were examined, the result indicated that the Diarylethene 1a changed the color from colorless to purple upon irradiation with 297 nm UV light, in which absorption maxima were observed at 564 in acetonitrile. The photochromic reaction kinetics indicated that the cyclization processes of 1a belong to the zeroth order reaction and the cycloreversion process belong to the first order reaction. This new photochromic system also exhibited fluorescence switching in acetonitrile solution.