Photochromism of Dihydroindolizines Part XI: Synthesis of Novel Carbon-Rich Photochromic Dihydroindolizines-Based Potential Electronic Devices

Novel carbon-rich photochromic dihydroindolizine (DHI) derivatives substituted in the fluorene part (region A) in addition to the new spirocyclopropene 6 have been synthesized. The synthesis of dimethyl 2′,7′-diethynylspiro[cycloprop[2]ene-1,9′-fluorene]-2,3-dicarboxylate precursor 6 was accomplished in five steps, starting with the literature known conversion of fluorene to 2,7-dibromo-9H-fluoren-9-one in 56% yield over three steps. The chemical structures of the new synthesized materials have been elucidated by both analytical and spectroscopic tools. Three alterative synthetic pathways for the synthesis of DHI 9 have been established.