Syntheses and optoelectronic properties of four photochromic dithienylethenes

Four photochromic dithienylethene compounds, 1,2-bis(2-methyl-5-naphthalene-3-thienyl)perfluorocyclopentene , 1,2-bis[2-methyl-5(p-fluorophenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene , 1,2-bis[2-methyl-5(p-ethoxyphenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene , and 1,2-bis[2-methyl-5(p-N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-3-thienyl]perfluorocyclopentene 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 , and was observed by performing cyclic voltammetry experiments.