The synthesis and spectral properties of novel thioquinone dyes

9,10-Dichloro-2,3,5,6-tetrahydrobenzo[b][1,4,7]trithionine-8,11-dione (3) and 2,3,5,6,10,11,13,14-octahydrobenzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]bis[1,4,7]trithionine-8,16-dione (4) were synthesized from the reaction of p-chloranil with bis(2-mercaptoethyl) sulfide. The reaction of p-chloranil with 1-mercapto-2-propanol and with naphthalene-2-thiol as well as with 6-mercapto-1-hexanol yielded novel compounds. The structures of the compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, UV/vis, FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectroscopies.