Photochromic materials having extended pi-conjugated systems and compositions and articles including the same

1. A photochromic material comprising an indeno-fused naphthopyran having the following general structural formula (I) or (II):

the photochromic material having a pi-conjugation extending group bonded to the 11-position of said indeno-fused naphthopyran, said pi-conjugation extending group having at least one pendent halo-substituted group bonded thereto, said pi-conjugation extending group extending the pi-conjugation system of said indeno-fused naphthopyran, wherein the 13-position of said indeno-fused naphthopyran is substantially free of spiro-substituents.

2. The photochromic material of claim 1 wherein said pi-conjugation extending group is a group represented by —C(R 30 )═C(R 31 )(R 32 ) or —C≡C—R 33 , wherein R 30 , R 31 and R 32 are each independently, amino, dialkyl amino, diaryl amino, acyloxy, acylamino, a substituted or unsubstituted C 1 -C 20 alkyl, a substituted or unsubstituted C 2 -C 20 alkenyl, a substituted or unsubstituted C 2 -C 20 alkynyl, halogen, hydrogen, hydroxy, oxygen, a polyol residue, a substituted or unsubstituted phenoxy, a substituted or unsubstituted benzyloxy, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy, a substituted or unsubstituted oxyalkoxy, alkylamino, mercapto, alkylthio, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl, a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, provided that at least one of R 30 , R 31 and R 32 is said pendent halo-substituted group, and R 33 is said pendent halo-substituted group.

3. The photochromic material of claim 1 wherein said pi-conjugation extending group is selected from:

a substituted or unsubstituted aryl; and

a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl.

4. The photochromic material of claim 3 wherein said pi-conjugation extending group bonded to the 11-position of said indeno-fused naphthopyran is selected from substituted or unsubstituted aryl, and substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl,

wherein said substituted aryl and said substituted heteroaryl are in each case independently substituted with at least one member selected from substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy, substituted or unsubstituted oxyalkoxy, amide, substituted or unsubstituted amino, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, azide, carbonyl, carboxy, ester, ether, halogen, hydroxy, polyol residue, substituted or unsubstituted phenoxy, substituted or unsubstituted benzyloxy, cyano, nitro, sulfonyl, thiol, and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, provided that if the aryl group or the heteroaryl group comprises more than one substituent, each substituent may be independently chosen.

5. The photochromic material of claim 1 wherein said pendent halo-substituted group of said pi-conjugation extending group is selected from halo-substituted(C 1 -C 10 )alkyl, halo-substituted(C 2 -C 10 )alkenyl, halo-substituted(C 2 -C 10 )alkynyl, halo-substituted(C 1 -C 10 )alkoxy and halo-substituted(C 3 -C 10 )cycloalkyl, and wherein each halo group of each pendent halo-substituted group being independently selected from fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.

6. The photochromic material of claim 1 wherein said photochromic material displays hyperchromic absorption of electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength from 320 nm to 420 nm as compared to a comparative photochromic material comprising a comparable indeno-fused naphthopyran that is substantially free of said pi-conjugation extending group bonded to the 11-position of said comparable indeno-fused naphthopyran.

7. A photochromic article comprising a substrate and a photochromic material according to claim 1 connected to at least a portion of the substrate.

8. The photochromic article of claim 7 wherein the photochromic article is an optical element, said optical element being at least one of an ophthalmic element, a display element, a window, a mirror and a liquid crystal cell element.

9. The photochromic article of claim 8 wherein the optical element is an ophthalmic element, said ophthalmic element being at least one of a corrective lens, a non-corrective lens, a magnifying lens, a protective lens, a visor, goggles and a lens for an optical instrument.

10. The photochromic article of claim 7 wherein the substrate comprises a polymeric material and the photochromic material is incorporated into at least a portion of the polymeric material.

11. The photochromic article of claim 10 wherein the photochromic material is at least one of blended with at least a portion of the polymeric material, bonded to at least a portion of the polymeric material, and imbibed into at least a portion of the polymeric material.