Synthesis, optoelectronic property and application in optical storage of a novel diarylethene bearing an indole unit and a benzene ring

An unsymmetrical diarylethene derivative bearing both indole and phenyl moieties was synthesized. At the same time, its photochromic properties and fluorescence switch were investigated in detail. The results showed that this compound exhibited reversible photochromism, undergoing reversible cyclization and cycloreversion reactions upon alternating irradiation with UV and visible light in solution, and its absorption maxima were observed at 571 nm in hexane, upon irradiation with 297 nm UV light. The fluorescence intensity of diarylethene decreased dramatically along with the photochromism from open-ring isomer to closed-ring isomer upon irradiation with 297 nm UV light in PMMA. In hexane solution, the open-ring isomer of the diarylethene 1 exhibited relatively strong fluorescence at 440 nm when excited at 330 nm. This new photochromic system also exhibited remarkable optical storage character.