Synthesis of novel photochromic spiropyran compounds and their application study

Abstract

The several kinds of new novel spiropyran (SP) compounds were first designed and synthesized. The structures of these target compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, IR and MS tests. The photochromic properties of target compounds and their influencing factors were studied, and the applications of SP1 on the polymer materials field were initially investigated. The results show that λmax in UV-vis absorption spectra will shift to longer wavelengths as the result of benzopyran ring linked with strong electrowithdrawing groups; the thermal fade rate is slower with N atom linked with flexible long group; SP1 has good fatigue resistance compared with the other kinds of the target compounds. The fading rate of both SP-g-hPMMA and SP-m-PMMA are obviously slower than that of SP1. The tensile strength and elongation at break of SP-g-hPMMA and SP-m-PMMA were almost unchanged compared with that of PMMA. It is expected that SP-g-hPMMA and SP-m-PMMA will be applied in the field of polymer photochromic materials.