Resonance hyper-Raman excitation profiles of a donor-acceptor substituted distyrylbenzene: one-photon and two-photon states

Resonance Raman and resonance hyper-Raman spectra of the "push-pull" conjugated molecule 1-(4'-dihexylaminostyryl)-4-(4"-nitrostyryl)benzene in acetone have been measured at excitation wavelengths from 485 to 356 nm (two-photon wavelengths for the nonlinear spectra), resonant with the first two bands in the linear absorption spectrum. The theory of resonance hyper-Raman scattering intensities is developed and simplified using assumptions appropriate for intramolecular charge-transfer transitions of large molecules in solution. The absorption spectrum and the Raman, hyper-Rayleigh, and hyper-Raman excitation profiles, all in absolute intensity units, are quantitatively simulated to probe the structures and the one- and two-photon transition strengths of the two lowest-energy allowed electronic transitions. All four spectroscopic observables are reasonably well reproduced with a single set of excited-state parameters. The two lowest-energy, one-photon allowed electronic transitions have fairly comparable one-photon and two-photon transition strengths, but the higher-energy transition is largely localized on the nitrophenyl group while the lower-energy transition is more delocalized.