A Family of Multiaddressable, Multicolored Photoresponsive Copolymers Prepared by Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization

A series of homo- and copolymers containing different photochromic dithienylethene (DTE) architectures was prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) techniques. Each DTE structure can be uniquely addressed in the two- and three-component copolymers, providing a means to generate a wide range of colors when the compounds are selectively photocyclized to their ring-closed forms. Multicomponent, multiaddressable materials of this type are beneficial for applications such as multistate photochromic recording, displays, inks, and barcodes.