Sulphone derivatives with varied nitrogenous substituents: Synthesis, photophysics and application in anti-blue light lenses

Organic dyes are considered highly desirable for light absorbing materials due to their low toxicity, absence of heavy metals, and good transparency. Even a small amount of these dyes can significantly enhance light absorption. In this work, a series of sulphone derivatives (TX1–TX4) has been designed and synthesized. Their photophysical properties were explored by spectroscopic and theoretical methods. As the polarity of the solvent increases, their absorption and emission spectra exhibit different properties. In low-polarity solvent, the emissions of these compounds could be put down to ¹π–π* transition. On the other hand, the emissions may be dominated by charge transfer transition in more polar solvents. In addition, all these compounds exhibit satisfactory photostability and thermal stability. Moreover, anti-blue light lenses were fabricated by light curing technology. All of them showed high visible light transmittances (87.88–91.27 %), and these prepared lenses exhibit varying degrees of anti-blue light performance. These results proved that the preparative sulphone ramification could be potential organic light-absorbing materials for anti-blue light applications.