The introduction of a perfluoroalkyl moiety into dye molecules changes the properties of the compounds. The 4-perfluoroalkyl disazo dyes were more soluble in hexane and showed a better dichroism than the alkyl analogs. A novel methacrylate copolymer with a pendant naphthylene disazo dye containing a perfluorobutylsulfonyl group showed a slow relaxation behavior after corona poling. 7-Diethylamino-4-methyl-3-(perfluoroalkyl)coumarins were more stable than the non-perfluoroalkylated derivatives to UV irradiation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.