series of rigidified tri-, penta- and heptamethine merocyaninedyes were synthesised. A piperidyl moiety was chosen as the electron-donating substituent while the electron-accepting group was varied from ketones to malononitriles and cyanoacetates. The structures of the compounds in the solid state and in solution were elucidated by X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy, respectively, while optical properties