Investigation of Triangle Terthiophene and Hydroxyphenylbenzothiazole Configured Fluorescent Dye with a Triple Bond Bridge

A photochromic dye was constructed by incorporation of a carbon–carbon triple bond spaced triangle terthiophene skeleton and hydroxyphenylbenzothiazole. Regular photochromic behavior was investigated with alternated UV (254 nm) and visible light (≥ 400 nm) irradiation. The color of dye in solution can be cycled between pink and colorless. Additionally, the dye solution strongly fluoresces in THF with the absolute quantum yield (QY) being 0.56. When irradiation with 254 nm light, the emissive solution can be effectively quenched to photo-stationary sate ( Φ = 0.05). An emission “on–off” cycle could be established based on the UV/visible light irradiation cycle. The photochromic dye also exhibits good photo- and thermal-stability at room temperature. The emission decay profile indicates typical single component character with the fluorescence lifetime being 6.68 ns. The emission color was determined by the CIE 1931 coordinates of x = 0.14, y = 0.25 in the blue region.