Synthesis of diarylethene photochromic dyes

• Main Author: Low, Nathaniel Ming Hui
• Other Authors: Lam Yeng Ming
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166712
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Photochromic materials have recently drew much attention in industries such as optoelectronic devices and optical storage devices because of their excellent reversible photoresponse properties. Among them, diarylethene has been widely studied for their excellent thermal stability, rapid photoresponse, robust fatigue resistance, and desirable performances in both liquid and solid states. However, drawbacks to these applications of such molecules is that the switch needs to be irradiated by UV light, which causes harm to biological tissues, and induce poor penetration to optical equipments. This report establishes the general properties of diarylethene as a class of photochromic dye and the structural features that makes photochromism possible. It encompasses the experimental methodologies used to synthesize these compounds as well as the different types of characterization techniques used to identify diarylethene.