| Abstract: | In order to improve the thermal stability of colored merocyanine formed by the photochromic reaction of spironaphthoxazine, the spiro compound was incorporated in polymeric siloxanes. They are liquid poly(methylphenylsiloxane) and solid methyl‐ or phenyl‐siloxane resins prepared by the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of the corresponding di‐ or tri‐ethoxysilane. To the polymers the spirooxazine moiety isbonded covalently. Higher stability of the colored form was not observed in the liquid polysiloxane, but in the solid resins. The phenyl substituent in the resin is more effective than the methyl one for stabilization, suggesting that the bulky substituent in the vicinity of the spirooxazine moiety is important as well as stiff polymer matrices. The phenylsiloxane resin with the spirooxazine moiety was enclosed in rigid sol–gel silica, but a further improvement of the thermal stability was not observed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
