Electronic and vibrational second-order nonlinear optical properties of protein secondary structural motifs

A perturbation theory approach was developed for predicting the vibrational and electronic second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) polarizabilities of materials and macromolecules comprised of many coupled chromophores, with an emphasis on common protein secondary structural motifs. The polarization-dependent NLO properties of electronic and vibrational transitions in assemblies of amide chromophores comprising the polypeptide backbones of proteins were found to be accurately recovered in quantum chemical calculations by treating the coupling between adjacent oscillators perturbatively. A novel diagrammatic approach was developed to provide an intuitive visual means of interpreting the results of the perturbation theory calculations. Using this approach, the chiral and achiral polarization-dependent electronic SHG, isotropic SFG, and vibrational SFG nonlinear optical activities of protein structures were predicted and interpreted within the context of simple orientational models.     

Optical, redox, and NLO properties of tricyanovinyl oligothiophenes: comparisons between symmetric and asymmetric substitution patterns

A series of tricyanovinyl (TCV)-substituted oligothiophenes was synthesized and investigated with a number of physical methods including UV/Vis, IR, and Raman spectroscopy, nonlinear optical (NLO) measurements, X-ray diffraction, and cyclic voltammetry. Mono- or disubstituted oligomers were prepared by the reaction of tetracyanoethylene with mono- or dilithiated oligomers. The comparative effects of the symmetric and asymmetric substitutions in the electronic and molecular properties have been addressed. These oligomers display dramatic reductions in both their optical and electrochemical band gaps in comparison with unsubstituted molecules. The analysis of the electronic properties of the molecules was assisted by density functional theory calculations, which are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. TCV substitution influences the energies of the frontier orbitals, especially with respect to the stabilization of LUMO orbitals. X-ray structural characterization of a monosubstituted oligomer exhibits pi-stacking with favorable intermolecular interactions. NLO results agree with the role of the intramolecular charge-transfer feature in the asymmetric samples. These results furthermore exalt the role of conformational flexibility in the disubstituted compounds and reveal an unexpected nonlinear optical activity for symmetric molecules. Regarding the electronic structure, the interpretation of the vibrational data reflects the balanced interplay between aromatic and quinoid forms, finely tuned by the chain length and substitution pattern. The electronic and structural properties are consistent with the semiconducting properties exhibited by these materials in thin film transistors (TFTs).     

链式多Li掺杂分子H(HC==N-Li)nH(n=1~6)的NLO性质及链长依赖性

对链式多Li掺杂体系H(HCN-Li)_nH(n=1~6)的结构与性质进行了研究. 发现随着链长n的增大, 体系中有两类分子出现. 当n=1, 2时, 由于额外电子轨道是空的, 从而形成了Li 盐分子; 而当n=3~6时, 额外电子轨道是占据的, 从而形成了具有大范围额外电子云的多Li电子化物分子. 对于系列体系H(HCN-Li)_nH(n=1~6), 其非线性光学(NLO)性质的依赖性呈现阶梯式增长的规律, 即静态第一超极化率β₀的次序为2179, 2776(n=1, 2)< 5492, 5487(n=3, 4)< 15235, 15377(n=5, 6), 表明增加Li原子掺杂数是提高NLO响应的新途径.     

Integrated NMR and computational study of push-pull NLO probes: interplay of solvent and structural effects

In this study we combined QM calculations and NMR measurements to understand at a detailed level the complex interplay of structural/electronic properties with the effects of the solvent in the NLO activity of push-pull systems, quantified in terms of variations of the static hyperpolarizability. Different parameters (bond lengths and bond length alternation, vibrational frequencies, electronic charge distribution) are introduced and tested to rationalize both the solvent sensitivity of three molecular systems (namely, p-nitroaniline, ethyl 4-ammino benzoate, and 5-nitro-1H-indole) and the differences among them. This analysis has finally allowed us to establish a clear correlation between the charge transfer behavior of the systems, their NLO properties, and NMR parameters also validating simplified but effective chemical analyses based on resonance limit forms.     

N-Doped Nonalternant Nanoribbons with Excellent Nonlinear Optical Performance

Two novel N-doped nonalternant nanoribbons ( NNNR-1 and NNNR-2 ) featuring multiple fused N-heterocycles and bulky solubilizing groups were prepared via bottom-up solution synthesis. NNNR-2 achieves a total molecular length of 33.8 Å, which represents the longest soluble N-doped nonalternant nanoribbon reported to date. The pentagon subunits and doping of N atoms in NNNR-1 and NNNR-2 have successfully regulated their electronic properties, achieving high electron affinity and good chemical stability enabled by the nonalternant conjugation and electronic effects. When applied a laser pulse of 532 nm, the 13-rings nanoribbon NNNR-2 shows outstanding nonlinear optical (NLO) responses, with the nonlinear extinction coefficient of 374 cm GW⁻¹, much higher than those of NNNR-1 (96 cm GW⁻¹) and the well-known NLO material C₆₀ (153 cm GW⁻¹). Our findings indicate that the N-doping of nonalternant nanoribbons is an effective strategy to access another type of excellent material system for high-performance NLO applications, which can be extended to construct numerous heteroatom-doped nonalternant nanoribbons with fine-tunable electronic properties.     

Gold adatoms and clusters on PPV: An ab initio investigation

We have performed an ab initio investigation of the energetic, structural, electronic, and vibrational properties of Au atoms and clusters adsorbed on poly-p-phenylene vinylene (PPV) chains, Au(n)/PPV (with n =?1, 2, 6, 7, 10, and 12). We find that the Au(n)/PPV systems are energetically stable by 0.5 eV, compared with the isolated systems, viz., PPV chain and Au(n) clusters, thus supporting the formation of Au(n)/PPV nanocomposites. Further support to the formation of Au(n)/PPV has been provided by examining the vibrational properties of pristine PPV and Au(n)/PPV systems. In agreement with experimental measurements, we find a reduction on the in-plane vibrational frequency of C-C bonds of Au(n)/PPV, when compared with the same vibrational modes of pristine PPV. The electronic properties of isolated Au(n) clusters are modified when adsorbed on PPV. The highest occupied states of Au(n)/PPV are mostly concentrated on the Au(n) cluster, while the lowest unoccupied states are mainly localized along the PPV chain. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap of the Au(n)/PPV systems are smaller than the energy gap of the isolated systems, Au(n) clusters, and pristime PPV chains.     

Doping properties of polydithienylmethine: a study on the correlation between polymer chain length, spectroscopy, and transport

(1S)-(+)-10-Camphorsulfonic acid-doped polydithienylmethine was prepared through an acid-catalyzed condensation reaction of alpha,alpha'-di-2-thienyl-(2,2'-bithiophene)-5,5'-dimethanol and was characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The electronic and vibrational properties of the resulting polymer thin films vary with the loadings of the (1S)-(+)-10-camphorsulfonic acid. The dark conductivity and drift mobility, which is significantly high, of the polymer thin films were enhanced with increasing doping levels and reached maximum values of 8.0x10(-5) S.cm-1 and 3.5x10(-2) cm2.V-1.s-1, respectively, at a 7 mol % dopant loading. Higher doping levels (>7 mol %) result in nonuniform polymer thin films with degraded optical quality due to the formation of nanocrystalite and thus a decrease in conductivity and drift mobility was observed. The doped polydithienylmethine thin film also exhibited a photoconductivity response with an excitation at 457 nm and the highest photoconductivity (2x10(-4) S.cm-1) was again observed at the 7 mol % doping level. Spectroscopic investigation suggests that the enhanced transport properties can be attributed to polaronic species present. The electronic and vibrational changes which relate to such doping were characterized by electronic absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy. The changes in transport values can be directly related to the changes we see in our spectroscopic investigations.     

Effect of doping an organic molecule ligand on TGS single crystals

Good quality single crystals of thiourea-doped triglycinesulphate (TuTGS) a new semiorganic nonlinear optical (NLO) crystal has been successfully grown from aqueous solution by slow evaporation method. The solubilities under various solvents in different proportions have been studied. The structural characterization of the grown crystals was carried out by X-ray diffraction. The grown crystals were subjected to FTIR and Raman analyses for vibrational assignments. The optical absorption coefficient alpha was analysed and interpreted to be allowed in the direct transition. The values of allowed direct energy gap (Eg) for undoped and doped crystals were calculated. It was found that Eg values were decreased with organic molecule doping. The powder technique of Kurtz and Perry confirm the NLO property of the grown crystal.     

Acido- and phototriggered NLO properties enhancement

In this paper, acido- and phototriggered enhancement of the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties are achieved by combining the 10-(2-arylethenyl)indolino[2,1-b]oxazolidine unit with various styrylic residues. The synthetic pathway allows the preparation of phenyl, naphthyl, anthryl, and phenanthryl derivatives, which have been shown to display photochromic and acidochromic behavior at ambient temperature. The multiaddressable molecular switches are characterized by a large contrast of the NLO response along the reversible transformations. Hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) experiments clearly indicate the strong influence of the electrodonating substituent borne by the aromatic system. Theoretical calculations have been performed for representative molecules showing a good agreement with the experimental hyperpolarizabilities. This enables a better understanding of the NLO responses in terms of structural and electronic parameters for both closed and protonated open forms.     

以三亚吡嗪为中心的有机共轭分子的二阶NLO性质研究

采用密度泛函理论B3LYP/6-311G**方法,对一系列以三亚吡嗪为中心的有机共轭分子的二阶NLO性质和电子光谱进行了理论研究.结果表明,取代基推、拉电子能力的变化、相对数目及共轭桥的性质对研究分子的极化率及二阶NLO系数都有较大的影响.当研究分子以甲氨基为供体、以三氰基乙烯为受体、并以C=C双键为共轭桥时,显示了较大的二阶NLO活性和良好透光性的优化.该系列分子在NLO材料领域有较好的潜在应用价值.     

含咔唑生色团的有机芳香杂环分子的二阶非线性光学性质

采用密度泛函理论B3LYP/6-31G^*方法, 对一系列含咔唑生色团的有机芳香杂环分子进行结构优化, 并采用有限场(FF)和含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)方法在6-311G^**水平上探讨了体系的二阶非线性光学(NLO)性质和电子光谱. 结果表明, 咔唑取代基推或拉电子能力的改变和引入芳香杂环对研究分子的极化率α和二阶NLO系数β值都有较大影响. 当取代基分别连有拉电子硝基和推电子羟基, 以及引入呋喃杂环都可以使体系分子的β值随分子的最大吸收波长λ_max的增大而减小(蓝移). 该系列化合物兼具有很大的二阶非线性响应与良好的透光范围, 避免了“非线性-透光性”矛盾, 可能在非线性材料领域中有很大的潜在应用价值.     

From Graphene to Carbon Nanotubes: Variation of the Electronic States and Nonlinear Optical Responses

From the same piece of graphene sheet, (3, 3) and (6, 0) carbon nanotube clips were obtained on the basis of the different manners of rolling. The nature of the electronic state varies differently with different manners of rolling and is significantly affected by zigzag edges. The intermediate structures formed during the rolling process were functionalized with fluorine and oxygen atoms to investigate the electronic states and nonlinear optical (NLO) responses. Passivation of the intermediate structures with fluorine neither changes the nature of electronic states and nor improves the NLO responses. In constrast, passivation with oxygen enhances the NLO properties and changes the electronic states of the structures upon passivating at the open zigzag edges.     

Synthesis of the first mixed ligand Mn (II) and Cd (II) complexes of 4-methoxy-pyridine-2-carboxylic acid,molecular docking studies and investigation of their anti-tumor effects in vitro

The first mixed ligand Mn (II) and Cd (II) complexes containing 4-methoxy-pyridine-2-carboxylic acid (4-mpic) and 4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine (dmbpy) were synthesized in this study. The geometric structures of [Mn(4-mpic)₂(dmbpy)] (complex 1 ) and [Cd(4-mpic)₂(dmbpy)] (complex 2 ) were determined by single crystal X-Ray diffraction method. FT-IR and UV–Vis spectra were also recorded to investigate vibrational and electronic properties of complexes 1 and 2 . Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also carried out to provide a deep understanding in geometric, spectroscopic, electronic and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of complexes 1 and 2 . The first-order hyperpolarizibility (β) parameter calculated as 332.9736 × 10⁻³⁰ esu demonstrated that complex 1 is an extremely promising candidate to NLO materials. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis not only verified the distorted octahedral geometries of central metal ions, but also found out the high-energy interactions responsible for biological activities for complexes 1 and 2 . Anti-cancer activities of complexes 1 and 2 were tested on human breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7 (ER and PR positive, HER2 negative) and the triple negative breast carcinoma cell line MDA-MB 231 (ER, PR and HER2 negative). Dose–response relationship derived from MTT assays indicates that complexes 1 and 2 are showing concentration-dependent effects, which could suggest a potential use for these drug combinations in cancer cell lines.     

杂原子掺杂的含单空位缺陷BN纳米管的非线性光学性质

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)研究了杂原子M(M=Li, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca, C和Si)在B/N单空位缺陷处的掺杂对(6,0)BN纳米管体系非线性光学性质的影响. 采用B3LYP方法共得到了14种几何构型, 并采用BHandHLYP方法计算了这些结构的第一超极化率β₀值. 研究结果表明, 单纯的B或N缺陷几乎不影响BN纳米管体系的非线性光学性质; 与B缺陷处掺杂的体系相比, 杂原子在N缺陷处的掺杂更有利于提高BN纳米管体系的第一超极化率β₀值; 对于同周期掺杂原子, 还原性越强的原子掺杂对BN纳米管体系的第一超极化率β₀值的改善越明显, 表现为β₀(Ⅰ族)>β₀(Ⅱ族)>β₀(Ⅳ族); 对比同主族掺杂原子, 第三周期元素Na和Mg的掺杂能更有效地提高体系的第一超极化率β₀值, 原因主要在于原子半径和还原性等因素共同决定其对BN纳米管体系第一超极化率β₀值的改善程度. 本文研究结果为有效提高BN纳米管体系的非线性光学性质提供了一种新思路, 为基于BN纳米管的非线性光学材料设计提供了有价值的理论信息.     

聚酰亚胺多层膜的制备及其在非线性光学中的应用

报道了一种通过旋涂制备NLO聚合物多层膜的方法.紫外-可见吸收光谱及膜的厚度表征说明,在所得多层膜的结构中,聚合物单层膜的厚度可以较好地控制在100~200nm之间,所得含有5个双层的NLO多层膜(厚度1.6μm)具有良好的结构均一性,光学显微镜下没有观察到明显的结构缺陷.与单层具有较大厚度的NLO聚合物薄膜(如2~4μm)相比,所得聚合物多层膜可以允许掺杂更多的发色团而不发生相分离.     

NLOPredict: visualization and data analysis software for nonlinear optics

A data analysis and visualization program was developed to assist in the interpretation of second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) processes, including vibrational sum-frequency generation and electronically resonant second harmonic generation. A novel diagrammatic approach allows concise visual representations of the resonant NLO molecular response. By mapping the predicted NLO response as a function of molecular orientation, molecular modeling results can be combined with experimental measurements for orientational analysis. A method is developed and implemented to predict the nonlinear optical properties of the amide backbones in complete proteins with known structures. NLOPredict is available for most computer operating systems from http://sda.iu.edu/nlopredict/.     

Length-Dependent Direction-Tunable Charge-Transfer Behavior of Second-Order Optical Nonlinearity in Keggin-Type Organosilicone Derivative [PW<Subscript>11</Subscript>O<Subscript>39</Subscript>(RSi)<Subscript>2</Subscript>O]<Superscript>3−</Superscript>: A TDDFT Study

The second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of Keggin-type organosilicone derivatives [PW₁₁O₃₉(RSi)₂O]³⁻ are investigated by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Our results indicated that the length of conjugated chain R has a crucial effect on the charge transfer (CT). The direction of CT alters with the end-cap-substituted electron donating or accepting moieties (NH₂ or NO₂), until the chain length reach a certain length, as the CT originates from the heteropolyanion to organosilicone moiety along the chain, further chain lengthening leaves this behavior invariant. The derivatives with long chain substitution and end-cap-substituted electron acceptor (NO₂) display excellent second-order NLO responses. The system 18 with the relevant long conjugated polyphenylethynyl chain and end-cap-substituted electron acceptor (NO₂) has the largest β ₀ value, 4538.1 × 10⁻³⁰ esu. The present investigation provides important insight into the characteristic of CT and NLO properties of Keggin-type organosilicone derivatives.     

Impact of the anion on electrochemically doped regioregular and regiorandom poly(3-hexylthiophene)

Chemical and electrochemical doping of π-conjugated polymers is an important aspect in determining the performance and enabling the operation of many organic electronic devices, from organic light emitting diodes and thermoelectrics to organic electrochemical transistors. In both chemical doping and electrochemical doping an ionized dopant or counterion is present along with the doped π-conjugated polymer. This dopant or counterion is not a benign spectator, rather, its presence can significantly impact the optical, electronic, and thermoelectric properties of the resulting material. Here, we investigate how counterion structure impacts the electrochemical doping ability, oxidation potential, ionization energy, and polaron absorbance of regioregular (rr) and regiorandom (rra) P3HT. We find that in most cases the anion has a small effect on the polymer oxidation potential, except for in the case of rr-P3HT with the large tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate anion. We propose that this large anion is excluded from the crystalline regions and thus the oxidation potential is similar to that of rra-P3HT. The anions also result in significant differences in polaron absorbance and ionization energies, thereby emphasizing the important role of the counterion in determining the optical and electronic properties of doped π-conjugated polymers.     

过渡金属类立方烷原子簇化合物电子结构和二阶非线性光学性质的密度泛函理论研究

采用基于第一原理的含时密度泛函理论(TDDFT)对一系列具有类立方烷簇芯结构的过渡金属簇合物二阶非线性光学性质进行了研究。结果证明, 由于簇芯结构的对称性的影响, 这一类簇分子的二阶非线性光学系数的数值要小于三核欠完整类立方烷体系。通过对电子结构的分析, 发现二阶非线性光学性质主要是由簇芯内电荷的迁移造成的。轨道分析显示, -S原子对于电荷的迁移起主要的传递作用。定域化轨道分析证明簇分子中存在的多中心键有利于簇芯内电荷的迁移。分子模拟的研究表明:虽然类立方烷结构簇分子的值比较小, 但是通过合理的配体设计, 获得具有较大值非线性光学晶体是可能的。     

Novel diacetylene-containing polymers for second order NLO applications: effect of main chains and structure property relationships

In order to obtain polymers having high second order nonlinear optical (NLO) response, various novel polymers that contain polar dye molecules in side chains and diacetylenic groups in the main chains were synthesized, and their second order NLO properties were studied. Some of these polymers consisting of para-benzoate and para-cinnamate main chains, showed extremely high NLO coefficients, d₃₃ of 200 - 350 pm/V, and the corresponding meta polymers showed much inferior NLO coefficients. The polymers having aliphatic main chains had very little NLO response probably because of their low glass transition temperatures and flexibility of main chains. The high SHG responses of these polymers are attributed to their facile orientation of both chromophores and main chains. In the case of para-polymers, the main chain orientation of alkoxybenzoate and cinnamate along the chromophore is thought to be a reason for their high NLO coefficients.