518Diarylethenes (DAE, dihetarylethenes) are subject to intense study due to the possibility of using these compounds as photosensitive components in various applications, in particular, information processing, 1-4 optical switches for organic electronics, 5-7 and biosensors. 8 The potential for practical applications of DAE in the indicated areas motivate synthetic studies of photochromes with precisely designed photophysical parameters, such as thermal stability of the photoinduced form, 9-15 quantum yield of the forward and reverse photoreaction, 16-20 and the phototransformation cyclicity. 21-24 An important direction of study, with the goal of improving the practical characteristics of DAE, is the development of synthetic methods for obtaining DAE with intramolecular noncovalent interactions and steric hindrance. 25-31 One of the methods for creating a non-covalent interaction in DAE is the introduction of spiro-fused structures at the ethene linker. We should note that only isolated examples of spirofused DAE are known. 31-33 However, based on the current data, it is expected that the presence of spiro-fused moiety at the ethene linker could be used to confer certain useful properties to DAE. For example, some of the best forward quantum reaction yields have been demonstrated for spirofused DAE specifically due to the non-covalent interaction, caused by the presence of spirofusion. 31 By introducing or removing spirofusion it may be possible to tune the ability of DAE to undergo photochromic transformations. 32 The introduction of spirofusion may also be used for the preparation of DAE with several photoswitchable fragments. 33 The presented data show the importance of developing new approaches to the synthesis of diarylethenes featuring a rare combination of structural moieties, in particular spiro-fused systems. With this in mind, we set out to expand the range of available methods for the synthesis of DAE with spirofusion at the ethene linker.Recently we demonstrated a new approach to the synthesis of photochromic DAE, based on the transformations of intermediates obtained by reactions of tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) with 1,2-diarylethanones, namely, 3,4-diaryl-4-oxobutane-1,1,2,2-tetracarbonitriles. 34 At the same time, it is known that 4-oxoalkane-1,1,2,2-tetracarbonitriles based on some aliphatic and alkylaromatic ketones react with amines forming spiro compounds, containing an The reaction of tetracyanoethylated 1,2-diarylethanones with morpholine was used for directed synthesis of spiro-fused diarylethenes, 8-amino-1-imino(oxo)-6-morpholino-2-oxa-7-azaspiro[4.4]nona-3,6,8-triene-9-carbonitriles. The intermediates in this process were tetracyanoalkanone salts. The formation of spiranes was sensitive to the nature of aromatic substituents at the carbonyl group of 3,4-diaryl-4-oxobutane-1,1,2,2-tetracarbonitriles. The obtained spiro-fused diarylethenes exhibited photochromic properties.