Bromination of spiropyrans and reduction of their nitro derivatives

Depending on the nature of the nitrogen heteroring, either substitution only in the chromene ring (phenanthridine derivatives) or in both fragments of the molecule (indoline derivatives) occurs in the bromination of spiropyrans of the phenanthridine and indoline series with N-bromosuccinimide in low-polarity solvents, in which they are found in the cyclic form. The activity of the chromene fragment in both types of spiropyrans is approximately the same. The corresponding amino derivatives are formed in the catalytic reduction of spiropyran derivatives with a nitro group in the chromene ring in benzene solution. In alcohol solutions the nitro group and the 3–4 double bond of the chromene ring are hydrogenated simultaneously.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1320–1326, October, 1977.