Abstract
We present a new series of photochromic 1,2-bis(2-ethylbenzo[b]thiophen-3-yl)perfluorocyclopentenes with an oxidized benzothiophene core (O) or a nonoxidized one, decorated with mono- (Th1) and bithiophene (Th2) units attached to positions 6 and 6′ (Sy = symmetric) or only to position 6 (As = asymmetric). “Oxidized” compounds have highly fluorescent closed forms emitting in the visible region (yellow to red). The dyes with nonoxidized benzothiophenes possess fluorescent open forms with rather low emission efficiency. The photoswitching kinetics was studied at several wavelengths with UV and visible light. New diarylethenes underwent ring-closure reactions by irradiation with UV light (365 nm, 405 nm), and the reversible ring-opening by irradiation with visible light (470 nm, 530 nm). The on-switching of fluorescence due to the ring-closure reaction was observed also with visible light of 470 nm (to an extent of 10% for compound SyOTh1) and attributed to the Urbach tail effect. Due to a high degree of fluorescence modulation (>270), good fatigue resistance and large fluorescence quantum yield, compound SyOTh1 emerged as a candidate for single-molecule based super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.
Highlights
Photoswitchable diarylethenes (DAEs) with highly fluorescent “closed” forms combine photochromic and fluorescent entities in one molecule [1] and contain a perfluorocyclopentene bridge linking two 2-alkyl-1-benzothiophene-1,1-oxide residues with a C=C bond via C-3 and C-3′ atoms [2,3]
Due to a high degree of fluorescence modulation (>270), good fatigue resistance and large fluorescence quantum yield, compound SyOTh1 emerged as a candidate for single-molecule based super-resolution fluorescence microscopy
By studying the optical properties of the new compounds, we found that DAEs with nonoxidized benzothiophene units possess fluorescent open forms with low emission efficiencies
Summary
Photoswitchable diarylethenes (DAEs) with highly fluorescent “closed” forms combine photochromic and fluorescent entities in one molecule [1] and contain a perfluorocyclopentene bridge linking two 2-alkyl-1-benzothiophene-1,1-oxide residues with a C=C bond via C-3 and C-3′ atoms [2,3]. We present a new series of photochromic 1,2-bis(2-ethylbenzo[b]thiophen-3-yl)perfluorocyclopentenes with an oxidized benzothiophene core (O) or a nonoxidized one, decorated with mono- (Th1) and bithiophene (Th2) units attached to positions 6 and 6′ (Sy = symmetric) or only to position 6 (As = asymmetric). It was confirmed that asymmetric compounds with “compact” structures can be transformed to the closed form with the same light as bulkier analogs (the latter featuring slower ring-opening reactions; see Table 2).
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