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The mechanism of the color development on thermal paper, comprising a fluoran dye (S-205) and a color developer molecule, such as bisphenol A, was elucidated based on spectroscopic analyses (IR, and NMR) on an isolated black-colored compound prepared by a reaction of S-205 and bisphenol A. We propose that this black-colored compound is, indeed, a color-developing complex (CDC) with a definite molar ratio (S-205 : bisphenol A = 1 : 4 ) which has been formed between the open-form S-205 (generated by the cleavage of the lactone ring of S-205: zwitterion) and bisphenol A through hydrogen-bonding. The enthalpy gain associated with the formation of CDC plays an important role for black-color formation on thermal paper.
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Takahashi et al. (2002) studied this question.
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