Spirofluorene Phthalides

The phthalide 25, obtainable by condensation of 4,4 -bisdimethyl-aminobenzophenone-2-carboxylic acid with 3-dimethylaminoacetanilide and subsequent hydrolysis, was diazotized in sulfuric acid and the resultant diazonium salt treated with copper powder to yield 26. However, better yields are reportedly obtained by carrying out ring closure of the diazonium salt in phosphoric acid.103 A further synthetic route has also been described in which phthalides undergo intramolecular cyclization in the presence of aluminum chloride and urea.104,105 Thus, Crystal Violet lactone (2) has been directly converted into phthalide 26.106 

Despite the fact that the first patent application102 also claimed preparation and use of azaphthalides, such compounds never, in fact, appear 

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Fusion of the two arylamino groups of a triarylmethane phthalide color former results in the formation of spirofluorene phthalides. Due to the increased planarity of this system, a bathochromic shift results leading also to color formers showing infrared absorption when developed. This was first exemplified in 1983102 by preparation of phthalide 26 as shown in Scheme... 

Phthalide derivatives are of major importance in the dye industry, particularly in the area of recording material color formers. Pressure-sensitive carbonless copy paper and thermal recording paper are typical applications. Five principal structural classes have been developed extensively the xanthene dyes (fluorans (208)), 3,3-diarylphthalides (209), spirofluorenes (210), 3,3-bis(di-arylethylene)phthalides (211), and 3-substituted phthalides <84Mi 208-03>. Some of these structures are common to many familiar acid/base indicators, dyes, biological stains, or laser dyes such as fluorescein (212) and phenolphthalein (213) ,... 

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