Effect of conjugation path length on quadratic nonlinear optical properties of monomer and aggregates of zwitterionic merocyanine dyes

We present a quantum-chemical analysis of the conjugation path length effect on first hyperpolarizabilities of a series of zwitterionic merocyanine dyes whose synthesis has been reported earlier (J. Am. Chem. Soc.2002, 124, 9431, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 3144). The effect of the conjugation path lengths is evaluated to demonstrate the engineering guidelines for enhancing molecular optical nonlinearity. The first hyperpolarizabilities are calculated for extended conjugated monomer and H and J type aggregates of merocyanine dyes, to provide insight into the intermolecular interactions and the relationship between structural and collective nonlinear optical properties. The molecular geometries for monomers are obtained via B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level optimization including the SCRF/PCM approach, and the dynamic nonlinear optical (NLO) properties for monomer and aggregates are calculated with the ZINDO/CV method, including solvent effects. It is found that the chain length dependence of the first nonlinearity peaks at n = 6 and then it starts changing slowly for monomer and aggregates of zwitterionic merocyanine dyes. It is concluded that an excellent NLO response in solution might vanish when the active chromophore forms higher H aggregates. The importance of our results on the design of electrooptic materials has been discussed.     

Thermosolvatochromism of merocyanine polarity indicators in pure and aqueous solvents: relevance of solvent lipophilicity

The following novel solvatochromic probes were synthesized: 2,6-dibromo-4-[(E)-2-(1-alkylpyridinium-4-yl)ethenyl] phenolate, where the alkyl groups are methyl, n-butyl, n-hexyl, and n-octyl, respectively. Solvatochromism of three of these probes (C(1), C(4), and C(8)) was studied in 36 protic and aprotic solvents. A modified linear solvation energy relationship has been applied to the data obtained at 25 degrees C. Correlation of (empirical) polarities with other solvent properties showed more dependence on lipophilicity than on basicity. A similar conclusion has been reached for a series of other solvatochromic indicators. Exceptions are those that carry acidic hydrogens, being biased toward solvent basicity. Thermosolvatochromism has been studied in mixtures of water with methanol, 1-propanol, acetonitrile, and DMSO. Thermosolvatochromic data have been treated according to a model that explicitly considers the presence in bulk solution of three "species": water, organic component, and solvent-water hydrogen-bonded aggregate. Solvation by the latter is favored over solvation by either of the two precursor solvents (aqueous DMSO is an exception). Temperature increase resulted in desolvation of the probes, due to concomitant decrease of the structures of the component solvents. The above-mentioned modified solvation equation has been successfully applied to solvatochromism in aqueous methanol and aqueous 1-propanol.     

Anionic Snieckus-Fries rearrangement: solvent effects and role of mixed aggregates

Lithiated aryl carbamates (ArLi) bearing methoxy or fluoro substituents in the meta position are generated from lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) in THF, n-BuOMe, Me2NEt, dimethoxyethane (DME), N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA), N,N,N',N'-tetramethylcyclohexanediamine (TMCDA), and hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA). The aryllithiums are shown with (6)Li, (13)C, and (15)N NMR spectroscopies to be monomers, ArLi-LDA mixed dimers, and ArLi-LDA mixed trimers, depending on the choice of solvent. Subsequent Snieckus-Fries rearrangements afford ArOLi-LDA mixed dimers and trimers of the resulting phenolates. Rate studies of the rearrangement implicate mechanisms based on monomers, mixed dimers, and mixed trimers.     

Effect of solvent polarity and viscosity on the guest binding dynamics with bile salt aggregates

Bile salts form supramolecular aggregates with two binding sites with different properties. The guest binding dynamics to the aggregates and guest protection from species in the aqueous phase were investigated using fluorescence and laser flash photolysis experiments. Sodium cholate, deoxycholate and taurodeoxycholate were used as bile salts and acetonitrile or ethylene glycol were added as co-solvents to water in order to alter the binding properties of 1-ethylnaphthalene and 1-naphthyl-1-ethanol with the aggregates. The binding dynamics are faster and protection efficiencies are lower for guests bound to cholate and in the presence of either co-solvent.     

Solvent effects on radical copolymerization of acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate: solvent polarity and solvent-monomer interaction

Abstract

New insights for the effects of organic solvent polarities and solvent-monomer interactions on the radical copolymerization for an important copolymer, poly(acrylonitrile-co-methyl acrylate) (PAN-co-MA), were provided in this research. Solvents, dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), were used as reaction media. The polarity of these solvents was in the sequence of DMAc?<?DMF?<?DMSO. By studying the reactivity ratios of AN and MA, the triad fractions of the resultant copolymers, the interactions between monomers and solvents, and the compositions of copolymers at various conversions, we concluded that the solvent polarity had minimal influence on the copolymerization of AN and MA, while the solvent-monomer interactions played important roles. The interactions between monomer-monomer, monomer-solvent, and solvent-solvent, were calculated based on quantum chemistry methods. Both theoretical calculations and experimental results suggested that AN and MA in DMSO tended to aggregate locally, while they could be homogeneously dissolved in DMAc and DMF. The interactions between solvent and monomers could cause local monomer concentration variations, or ‘bootstrap’ effect, which is one of the critical factors affecting the copolymerization process of AN and MA and the chemical structures of the resultant polymers.     

Dimerization of merocyanine dyes. Structural and energetic characterization of dipolar dye aggregates and implications for nonlinear optical materials

Aggregation of polar merocyanine dyes has been identified as an important problem in the fabrication of organic materials for photonic applications. In this work, a series of merocyanine dyes is synthesized, and their aggregation is investigated by a combination of several experimental techniques to reveal structure-property relationships. These studies provide clear evidence for the formation of centrosymmetric dimers for all investigated merocyanines in concentrated solution and in the solid state. The thermodynamics of dimerization in liquid solution is studied by concentration-dependent permittivity measurements, UV-vis spectroscopy, and electrooptical absorption experiments. A centrosymmetric dimer structure with antiparallel ordering of the dipole moments is observed in solution by 2D NMR spectroscopy as well as in the solid state by X-ray crystallography and interpreted in terms of dipolar and pi-pi interactions. The optical properties of the dimer aggregates are satisfactorily explained by an excitonic coupling model. The effect of an external electric field on the dimerization equilibrium is considered and quantitatively determined by electrooptical absorption measurements. Implications of the observed findings on the design of nonlinear optical and photorefractive materials are discussed.     

Nonlinear optical properties of benzofurobenzofurans

The geometric structure, dipole moment, μ, linear polarizability, α and first hyperpolarizability, β, of symmetrically substituted amino-and cyanobenzofurobenzofurans and dihydrobenzofurobenzofurans have been calculated by ab initio coupled perturbed Hartree-Fock methods. Singlet electronic transition energies and excited state dipole moments have been calculated by the AMI program. The benzofurobenzofuran derivatives are planar, while dihydrobenzofurobenzofuran derivatives have a V-shaped form, in agreement with experimental X-ray data. The molecular structure is rather unaffected by substitution. The linear polarizability is weakly sensitive to the substituent and substituent position, while β value changes over about 1 order of magnitude. Although both series of compounds have relatively modest hyperpolarizability, reaching ca. 60% β of para-nitroaniline, they have good properties for second harmonic generation devices: transparency in the visible spectral region, thermal stability and conformational rigidity.     

Circular dichroism and absorption spectroscopy of merocyanine dimer aggregates: molecular properties and exciton transfer dynamics from time-dependent quantum calculations

A wave packet approach to the calculation and interpretation of circular dichroism (CD) spectra is applied to the spectroscopy of aggregates of a merocyanine dye. A combined analysis of absorption and CD spectra allows for the extraction of geometric information and excited state electronic coupling. It is shown that in the case of dimer aggregates of a chiral merocyanine dye, it is possible to infer the dynamics of an exciton transfer directly from the CD spectrum. This relation is established via the Fourier relation to a time-dependent correlation function reflecting the quantum dynamics in the dye aggregate.     

Computer simulation of morphological and optical properties of aggregates of spheres

Computer simulation of the aggregation of spherical particles has been performed according to various simple theoretical models: mean values of the morphological (compactness, anisometry) and optical (anisotropy, light scattering) properties of such floes have been evaluated by means of Monte Carlo methods.     

Very large infrared two-photon absorption cross section of asymmetric zinc porphyrin aggregates: Role of intermolecular interaction and donor-acceptor strengths

Very large two-photon absorption (TPA) cross sections at the infrared region have been revealed for J-aggregates of asymmetric zinc porphyrin using quantum-chemical calculation. The TPA properties are evaluated for monomer and aggregates of a series of push-pull porphyrins, whose syntheses are known in the literature. The two-photon absorption cross section can be greatly enhanced by increasing the strengths of the electron donor/acceptor. We also present a quantum-chemical analysis on porphyrin aggregates to understand the role of intermolecular interactions and the relationship between structural and collective nonlinear optical properties. It has been observed that the TPA properties change tremendously as monomers undergo J-aggregation and the magnitudes of TPA cross sections are highly dependent on the nature of aggregates. The importance of our results with respect to the design of photonic and photodynamic therapy materials has been discussed.     

The optical properties of molecules and chromogenic aggregates of xanthene dyes

The UV absorption spectra of rhodamine B and G molecules isolated from industrial dye samples were obtained. Two procedures were used. In one of them, rhodamine B molecules were displaced with water into a heptane layer from a solution of the dye in an alcohol-heptane mixture. The second procedure involved heating of the dye introduced into cellulose triacetate films. Individual rhodamine molecules (namely, dye cation-chlorine anion ion pairs) prepared by both methods did not absorb visible light. The spectra of individual rhodamine molecules coincided with the spectra of so-called pseudoleucobases of xanthene dyes reported in the literature. The conclusion was drawn that the chromaticity property in the series of xanthene dyes appeared because of the formation of supramolecular dimeric and larger aggregates, as was earlier established for triphenylmethane dyes (TPMDs) and copper phthalocyanine (CuPc). At the same time, individual xanthene dye molecules, like TPMD and CuPc molecules, are not chromogens.     

Static and dynamic properties of anionic intermolecular aggregates: the I−–benzene–Ar n case

Molecular dynamics simulations on the I^?–benzene–Ar _n clusters have been carried out using an atom(ion)-bond model to describe the nonelectrostatic contribution to the total interaction. Results for I^?–benzene–Ar and I^?–benzene–Ar _n (n = 3, 18 and 25) are presented and some predicted properties are compared with those of the alkali cation–benzene clusters solvated by Ar atoms.     

Synthesis, optical properties, and LFER analysis of solvent-dependent binding constants of Hamilton-receptor-connected merocyanine chromophores

A merocyanine dye equipped with a Hamilton-receptor unit has been synthesized that enables strong noncovalent binding of other merocyanine dyes bearing barbituric acid acceptor groups by six hydrogen bonds. NMR and UV/vis titration experiments in toluene, chloroform, dichloromethane, dioxane, and THF provide evidence for the formation of 1:1 complexes even in the dipolar solvents. An enhanced binding strength is observed for the more dipolar merocyanine dyes in the head-to-tail assembly structure with binding constants up to >10 (8) M (-1) in toluene. In the present bimolecular complexes two merocyanine chromophores are assembled in a head-to-tail fashion that affords increased dipole moments as demanded for efficient electric field induced poling processes in nonlinear optical and photorefractive polymeric hosts. The solvent dependency of the binding constants for various barbituric acid dye-Hamilton receptor complexes as well as a perylene imide-melamine complex reveals linear free energy relationships (LFER) that allow for an estimation of binding constants larger than 10 (12) M (-1) for Hamilton receptor organized head-to-tail merocyanine bimolecular complexes in aliphatic solvents. It is suggested that such LFER are valuable tools for the estimation of binding constants in solvents where experimental binding constants cannot be determined because of solubility or spectroscopic problems.     

Water-organic solvent systems in countercurrent chromatography: Liquid stationary phase retention and solvent polarity

Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is a separation technique in which the stationary phase is a liquid. The liquid stationary phase retention is a critical problem in CCC. The retention of 18 organic solvents in a hydrodynamic CCC apparatus was measured with an aqueous mobile phase, the centrifuge spin rate and the mobile phase flow rate being constant, 800 rpm and 2 ml/min, respectively. Conversely, water retention was measured when the 18 solvents were the mobile phases. A direct relationship between the liquid stationary phase retention and the phase density difference was found. The liquid phase density difference is the most important parameter for stationary phase retention in a hydrodynamic CCC apparatus with coiled tubes. The chromatographic retention of formanilide was measured in biphasic systems and expressed as the formanilide partition coefficient. It is shown that the partition coefficient correlates with the Reichardt polarity index of the organic solvent when the liquid stationary phase retention volume does not.     

Nonlinear optical properties of open-shell polychlorotriphenylmethyl radicals

The second-order nonlinear optical (SONLO) response of a series of the highly chemically and thermally stable polychlorotriphenylmethyl monoradicals 1–8 has been studied by Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering. These radicals exhibit relatively high nonlinear optical (NLO) responses with β values ranging from 118×10⁻³⁰ to 755×10⁻³⁰ esu, which may result from an enhancement of the SONLO activities according to their open-shell electronic state. Hyperpolarizability data for radicals 1–8 have also been correlated with their redox potentials, correlation that has turned out to be linearly proportional either with the oxidation or the reduction potentials. These data have been justified in terms of molecular orbital energies. Finally we have successfully explored the capacity of radicals 1–8 to participate in a molecular switching array involving two main steps, an acid/base reaction and a redox process. The presence of open-shell character for this family of compounds makes them attractive candidates to design new multifunctional materials that would simultaneously possess magnetism and NLO.     

Nonlinear optical properties of novel H-shaped chromophores

Novel and effective H-shaped chromophores were doped into polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to form guest-host polymer thin films.The measurement results of Maker fringe method show that the polymer thin films containing the H-shaped chromophores as a guest exhibit high second harmonic coefficients (d33) compared with other two-dimensional chromophores.     

Nonlinear optical properties of carbon nitride nanotubes

The second order polarizabilities (β) of the C(3)N(4) NT systems were investigated in this study. The β values of end groups substituted C(3)N(4) NTs were calculated to find their most favorable paradigm for nonlinear optical design. It was found that their electric dipole transitions are only allowed along the tube axis direction and the position of terminal groups has a great effect on NLO properties of substituted C(3)N(4) NTs. The obtained results provide us details to understand the relation between the structure and nonlinear optical properties. The results indicate that the second-order polarizabilities originate from charge transfer from a donor (-NH(2)) to an acceptor (-O(2)N) and the electron density redistribution in heptazine units. We employ a one-dimensional two-state model to analyze the nature of the second-order polarizabilities of studied materials. The frequency-dependent second-order polarizabilities were also calculated. The second-order polarizability of the O(2)N-C(3)N(4)-NH(2) NT is 2.51 × 10(-27) esu when the input photon energy is 2.232 eV, which is much larger (about two orders of magnitude) than static second-order polarizability (2.54 × 10(-29)).     

Nonlinear optical properties of thin organic films

A brief survey is given on our recent work on the linear and nonlinear optical properties of thin films of polymers with a conjugated π–electron system. Third harmonic generation and degenerate four wave mixing experiments are used to study magnitude and response time of the third order nonlinear optical susceptibility of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) and poly(phenyl acetylene). Phthalocyanine derivatives show a strong influence of the intermolecular electronic coupling on the response time of transient gratings. The influence of energy transfer on the relaxation process is discussed.     

Octupolar merocyanine dyes: a new class of nonlinear optical chromophores

A set of new octupolar merocyanine chromophores was designed and synthesized. These compounds were prepared from the reaction of 1,3,5-triformyl-2,4,6-trihydroxybenzene with heterocyclic nucleophiles. Octupolar dyes were formed exclusively in their open-dye form. The one- and two-photon-absorption spectra of the dyes consist of two bands: The long-wavelength band in the two-photon absorption spectrum (a few hundreds GM above 1000?nm) matches well with the intense, long-wavelength-absorption band that is located in the visible region in the linear spectrum. Interestingly, an additional, much-more-intense TPA band in the NIR region is observed at higher energy, which corresponds to a weakly allowed one-photon electronic transition. Changing the peripheral heterocyclic moieties allows tuning of the optical properties to approach the cyanine limit (i.e., polymethine state), thus resulting in a red-shift of the low-energy one-photon-absorption band as well as to the rise of an intense two-photon-absorption band in the NIR region. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first synthesis and TPA characterization of octupolar merocyanine chromophores with typical low-bond-length alternation.     

磺酸甜菜碱型两性离子亲水作用色谱固定相的制备及色谱性能评价

以丙烯酸二甲氨基乙酯(DMAEA)和1,3-丙磺酸内酯为原料,合成了含磺酸甜菜碱型两性离子的N,N-二甲基-N-丙烯酰氧乙基-N-丙基磺酸铵(DMAEAPS)功能单体,通过原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP)技术将其接枝到硅胶表面,制备了磺酸甜菜碱型两性离子色谱固定相(Sil-DMAEAPS)。研究了该固定相对安息香、维生素B6、芸香叶苷、对香豆酸和咖啡酸5种极性溶质的亲水作用色谱分离性能。结果表明,在典型的亲水作用色谱条件下,极性溶质的保留主要由静电作用和亲水作用控制;而在典型的反相色谱条件下,极性溶质则表现出反相柱的分离特征。与ZIC-HILIC商品柱进行对比,自制色谱柱对5种极性溶质表现出不同的分离选择性。将自制色谱柱用于芦丁片中芸香叶苷含量的测定,操作方法简单,为极性样品的分离提供了新方法。