Strategy for Molecular Design of Photochromic Diarylethenes Having Thermal Functionality.

Thermal reactivities of photochromic diarylethene closed-ring isomers can be controlled by the introduction of substituents at the reactive positions. Diarylethenes having bulky alkyl groups undergo thermal cycloreversion reactions. When bulky alkoxy groups are introduced, the diarylethenes have both thermal cycloreversion reactivities and low photocycloreversion quantum yields. Such photochromic compounds can be applied to thermally reusable photoresponsive-image recordings. The thermal cycloreversion reactivity of the closed-ring isomers can be evaluated using specific steric substituent constants and be correlated with the parameters. By introduction of trimethylsilyl or methoxymethyl groups at the reactive positions, the diarylethene closed-ring isomers undergo thermal irreversible reactions to produce by-products at high temperatures. These diarylethenes may be useful for secret-image recordings. Furthermore, thiophene-S,S-dioxidized diarylethenes having secondary alkyl groups at the reactive positions undergo thermal by-product formation reactions, in addition to the photostability of the colored closed-ring isomers. Such materials may be used for light-starting thermosensors. The thermal by-product formation reactivity can be evaluated by the specific substituent constants and theoretical calculations of quantum chemistry. These results supply the strategy for the molecular design of the photochromic diarylethenes having thermal functionality.