The majority of dyes belong to the chromophoric class known as donor-acceptor systems. The essential structural feature of such systems is the presence of one or more electron donating groups conjugated to one or more electron withdrawing groups via an unsaturated bridge. The pyrazolin-5-one system is an effective electron acceptor residue, and can also act as a weak electron donor. In our experiments, the various symmetrical and unsymmetrical H-chromophores were synthesized in the indoxyl, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-2-one, pyrazolin-5-one, and pyridin-2,6-dione residues, resulting in cross-conjugated donor-acceptor systems. And the visible light absorption was then associated with the migration of electron density from the donor region of the molecule to the acceptor region. Also, it was useful to prepare related non-cross-conjugated donor acceptor chromophores by combining these residues with other electron donor or acceptor moieties. For convenience such chromophores are referred to as merocyanines.