With the development of economy,society,and technology,people's pursuits for clothing and color have become more novel,personalized,diversified,functional,and superior quality.Therefore,photochromic dyes have been developed and are widely used in the fields of clothing,construction,medicine,information storage,banknote,marketable securities,confidential documents,anti-counterfeiting printing,and national defense technology.The speed(sensitivity),thermal stability,and fatigue resistance(number of cycles)of the color generation and fading process of photochromic dyes in photochromic reactions are important factors,and they will determine the practical application of photochromic dyes.The molecular structural characteristics of common photochromic dyes,such as spiropyran,spirothiopyran,spiroxazine,naphthopyran,phthalic anhydride,diarylethenes were analyzed.And the synthesis processes of these common photochromic dyes were discussed,their technological development trends were also discussed.