Naphthalene amidine imide dyes by transamination of naphthalene bisimides.

Derivatives of naphthalene-1,4,5,8-tetracarboxylic acid with amidine structures have been prepared. The light absorption of the bisimide derivatives in the UV region is shifted to the visible for the amidine imides, which also fluoresce with a large Stokes shift. It has been shown how the bisimide-lactam rearrangement can be extended to amidine structures.