A novel non-destructive readout method for rewritable storage systems of diarylethene photochromic molecules

1,2-bis(2-methyl-5-(4-methoxyl-phenyl)thiophene-3-yl)perfluorocyclopentene was synthesized by the elimination reaction of perfluorocyclopentene with butyllithium. The UV-Vis absorption spectra of both the open form and the closed form were detected. Their geometries were optimized by PM3 method, and ZINDO/S CI method was employed to calculate their UV-Vis absorption spectra, which were consistent with the experiments. Three fabricated dithienylethene derivatives linked by heterocyclic pyridinium betaines were investigated by the same methods to calculate their UV-Vis absorption spectra of both the open and closed forms. The results show that reading at the wavelength above 700 nm will not destroy the recorded information. Thus a non-destructive method is constructed on these diarylethene molecules.