Fulgide
Class of photochromic organic compounds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In organic chemistry, a fulgide is any of a class of photochromic compounds consisting of a bismethylene-succinic anhydride core that has an aromatic group as a substituent. The highly conjugated system is a good chromophore. It can undergo reversible photoisomerization induced by ultraviolet light, converting between the E and Z isomers, both of which are typically colorless compounds. Unlike the more-stable Z isomer, the E isomer can also undergo a photochemically-induced electrocyclic reaction, forming a new ring and becoming a distinctly colored product called the C form.[1] It is thus the two-step Z–C isomerization that is the photochromic change starting from the stable uncyclized form.