Synthesis of 9,10-Bis-hetaryl anthracenes and their application on polyester fibres as disperse dyes

9,10-Dibromoanthracene ( 2 ) obtained from anthracene by bromination was reacted with cuprous cyanide in refluxing DMF to obtain 9,10-dicyanoanthracene ( 3 ). The key intermediate ( 3 ) was condensed with orthophenylenediamine ( 4a ), ortho-aminophenol ( 4b ) and dicyanodiamine ( 6 ) to give 9,10-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)anthracene ( 5a ), 9,10-bis(benzoxazol-2-yl)anthracene ( 5b ) and 9,10-bis(4,6-diamino-S-triazin-2-yl)anthracene ( 5c ), respectively. The spectral properties of 5a-5c were studied. These compounds, when applied as disperse dyes on polyester fibres, gave excellent results.