Syntheses and optoelectronic properties of four photochromic dithienylethenes

Four photochromic dithienylethene compounds, 1,2-bis(2-methyl-5-naphthalene-3-thienyl)perfluorocyclopentene 1a, 1,2-bis2-methyl-5(p-fluorophenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene 2a, 1,2-bis2-methyl-5(p-ethoxyphenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene 3a, and 1,2-bis2-methyl-5(p-N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene 4a were synthesized, and their optoelectronic properties, such as photochromism in solution as well as in poly-methylmethacrylate (PMMA) amorphous films, fluorescences and electrochemical properties were investigated in detail. These dithienylethenes have shown good photochromic behavior both in solution and in PMMA amorphous film. All of them exhibited relatively strong fluorescence and gave a bathochromic shift upon increasing concentration in THF. The irreversible anodic oxidation of 1a, 2a and 4a was observed by performing cyclic voltammetry experiments.