Crown-containing spironaphthoxazines and spiropyrans. 3. Synthesis and investigation of the merocyanine form of crown-containing spirobenzothiazolinonaphthoxazine

A method for the synthesis of the spirobenzothiazolinonaphthoxazine, stable in the merocyanine form and containing a crown-ether fragment was developed. The complexing properties of the prepared merocyanine compound and the spectroscopic and photochromic characteristics of its complexes with alkaline earth metal cations were studied by NMR and UV spectroscopy. The results were analyzed using quantum-chemical calculations. The addition of alkaline earth metal perchlorates to a solution of a crown ether-containing merocyanine dye in MeCN results in the coordination of metal cations to two binding centers, namely, the crown-ether fragment and the merocyanine oxygen atom. This gives rise to two types of complexes, which differ substantially in their structurally. The complexation induces changes in the UV spectra and influences on the photochromic behavior of the prepared compound.