Synthesis and Computational Study of Semicroconaines and Nonsymmetric Croconaines

The synthesis of two new dye families of croconic acid derivatives, semicroconaine and nonsymmetric croconaine dyes, is reported for the first time. These compounds show strong absorption in the UV–visible and NIR, respectively. Semicroconaine dyes were obtained by a scalable and efficient condensation of croconic acid with aromatic heterocyclic methylene-active compounds. The subsequent reaction of the semicroconaine dyes with aromatic heterocyclic compounds affords nonsymmetric croconaines. The structure and electronic properties of the synthesized compounds have been investigated by preliminary theoretical calculations at DFT level of approximation.