Rational molecular designs for drastic acceleration of the color-fading speed of photochromic naphthopyrans.

We report rational molecular designs for acceleration of the color-fading speed of photochromic 3H-naphthopyrans. By using steric and electrostatic repulsions induced by substituents at the 2- and 10-positions of 3H-naphthopyrans, the color-fading speed accelerates from tens of minutes to microsecond time scales. The long-lived residual color, which is an important problem to be solved for industrial applications, can also be suppressed by these strategies.