Starting from the products of formylation and vinylformylation of indeno [2,1-b]chromene a series of new symmetrical and unsymmetrical polymethine dyes have been synthesized with a residue of indeno [2,1-b]chromene as the terminal group. It was shown that the unsymmetrical dyes obtained have two absorption bands in the visible region, the position, intensity, and shape of which depend on the nature of the second terminal group.Pseudoazulenes are π-isoelectronic analogs of azulene and are formally obtained by the replacement of a CH=CH fragment in the seven-membered ring of azulene by an O or S heteroatom or an NR group [1,2]. These systems retain an aromatic character and possess physical and chemical properties mainly analogous to azulene. The pseudoazulenes are of significant interest for synthesis and investigation of polymethine dyes, since they have characteristic absorption bands in the visible region [3][4][5], their fluorescence corresponds to a rare type of S 2 -S 0 transitions [2, 6-9], and some of them display nonlinear optical properties [10].Polymethine dyes containing pseudoazulene residues as terminal groups have not been investigated systematically up to the present time. Information in this area, in essence, is restricted to two studies, in which cationoid polymethine dyes of symmetrical [11] and unsymmetrical [12] structure, derivatives of 2,4-diphenylindeno[2,1-b]pyran, are described. In addition, a symmetrical monomethine cyanine, containing an indeno-[2,1-b]chromene residue, is known [13].The problem of the present work comprises the synthesis of new cyanine dyes having a residue of a pseudoazulene as terminal group and the study of their spectral properties. The system of the most available pseudoazulene, indeno[2,1-b]chromene (1), was selected for investigation [14]. There is information on the instability of 6H-indeno[2,1-b]chromenium perchlorate (2) preventing its isolation in the pure state [14], and also some data on salt 2, obtained however on its incomplete protonation [15]. O O CF 3 COOH CF 3 COO 1 3 11 _ +