Verbenone-based push–pull chromophores with giant first hyperpolarizabilities: A new structure–property correlation study

Novel chromophores Ch1–8 based verbenone bridge with various strong donors and acceptors were designed for applications in nonlinear optics, and the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of those verbenone-type chromophores were systematically investigated using the bond length alteration (BLA) theory, two states model (TSM) and sum-over-states (SOS) model. The results show that several verbenone-based chromophores possess remarkably large molecular second-order hyperpolarizabilities, which is due to its electron distribution close to the cyanine limit, the appropriate strength of acceptor, rather large change in dipole moment and low excitation energy. Computed hyperpolarizability (β_tot) of Ch6 also approach an outstanding 2922 × 10⁻³⁰ esu in TFE. The hyperpolarizability density analyses and two states model (TSM) were carried out to make a further insight into the origination of molecular nonlinearity of this unique system, suggesting that tuning structure of acceptor and polarity of the medium have great influence on the second-order nonlinear optical properties. More importantly, chromophores Ch1–Ch8 exhibited distinct features in two-dimensional second order NLO responses, and the strong electro-optical Pockels effect and optical rectification responses. The excellent electronic sum frequency generations (SFG) and difference frequency generations (DFG) effect are observed in these verbenone-type chromophores. These chromophores have a possibility to be appealing second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials, data storage materials and DSSCs materials from the standpoint of large β values, high LHE, and excellent two-dimensional second order NLO responses.     

Theoretical study of static electric properties of benzothiazole containing push–pull systems as potential candidates for NLO materials

The dipole moments μ, static polarizabilities , and first hyperpolarizabilities β _vec of benzothiazole based push–pull chromophores have been theoretically investigated by means of SCF-HF and DFT (B3LYP, B3PW91) methods with cc-pVDZ basis sets at geometries optimized with 3-21G basis sets. The main attention has been paid to hyperpolarizability β _vec as a microscopic quantity directly linked with the nonlinear optical (NLO) response of materials with the aim to choose the most suitable candidate(s) for NLO materials from the set of 24 molecules. The 4-dimethylamino-4′-nitrostilbene (DANS) has also been included as a reference compound. The influence of various structural modifications of benzothiazole containing chromophores on μ,, and β _vec has been studied. These modifications involve the variation in unsaturated chain length connecting the aromatic units, different positions of electron withdrawing NO₂ and CN group attached to four possible positions in benzothiazole fragment, addition of the second NO₂ group, and the replacement of benzene by five-membered heteroaromatic rings (pyrrole, furan, thiophene) at N(CH₃)₂ site. The structural parameters, frontier orbitals and relative stabilities of these systems are also reported. The DFT scheme exaggerates the magnitude as well as the chain length dependence of β _vec with respect to the HF results. Both B3LYP and B3PW91 functionals give very close results. The DFT optimized structures are characterized by larger delocalization, planarity, and polarization of substituents. The best candidates for NLO materials have been identified from the studied series based on the β _vec values.     

TDDFT-SOS Studies on the Polarizabilities and Second-order Hyperpolarizabilities of Zn_3O_3 II-VI Semiconductor Clusters

1 INTRODUCTION II-VI semiconductor materials with ZnO as the representative possess wide forbidden gaps and high exciton binding energy, which have paved the way for the study of exciton characters and short wave photo-conducting devices. They present wide appli- cations, such as ultraviolet laser transmitting device, piezoelectric device, optical waveguild and high efficient quantum dot luminous apparatus[1～8]. Re- cently, II-VI semiconductor cluster materials with nano-structure ha…     

TDDFT-SOS Studies on the Polarizabilities and Second-order Hyperpolarizabilities of Zn3O3 Ⅱ-Ⅵ Semiconductor Clusters

The geometrical structure of semiconductor clusters including Zn3O3 was optimized by the DFT B3LYP method. With the same basis sets, dipole moments, polarizabilities and second- order hyperpolarizabilities have been calculated and compared with the results obtained by TDDFT B3LYP method combined with sum-over-state (SOS) formula. The calculation results indicate that the dipole moments of the ground state depend on the atom radius and electronegative differences between elements and are their balance point as well. The polarizabilities of the clusters accord with the rule of the corresponding energy transformation from ground to excited state. The results predict an increase of second-order hyperpolarizabilities with increasing the distances between atoms in the clusters as well as a decrease of the polarizabilities and second-order hyperpolarizabilities in the same serial of semiconductor clusters with increasing the dipole moments of the ground states. The changes of dipole moments in ground states are inconsistent with transition moments. Spatial structure, charge transfer and other factors play an important role in composing the transition moments.     

Metameric influences on conformational selectivity for zwitterionic pyridinium cyclopentadienide and its aza analogues. Quantum mechanical studies on linear and nonlinear optoelectronic properties

This contribution reports the structure–property correlations for few already synthesized bi-aryl types of zwitterionic molecules. Quantum mechanical methodologies like, HF, MP2, B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, LC-ωPBE, M06-2X, and ωB97xD were used to investigate the optoelectronic properties of some interesting metameric pairs, where the molecules were bonded either through Reichardt's or Brooker's modes. Different bonding modes and inter-ring attractive forces are assigned to investigate three distinct cases (i) metameric enforcements & preferential resonance stabilizations, (ii) inter-ring hydrogen bonded stabilizations through hetero-atoms in the ring, and (iii) an amalgamation of these two forces. Computations indicate unusual structural preferences (planar vs. twisted) by the metameric pairs, and thus direct reflections of these behaviors on some of the important tensorial properties like, dipole moments, polarizabilities, hyperpolarizabilities, and so forth were observed. The metameric manipulation on structure–property correlations shown by these molecules can be utilized as useful strategies for efficient chromophore design, not only in the field of nonlinear optics, but also in other areas of research connecting to advanced functional materials for technological applications.     

Relationship between structure and nonlinear optical properties of new bisazo chromophores. Theoretical and experimental study

Two new bisazo chromophores—derivatives of bis-2,2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (bisphenol A), heterocyclic amines (2-aminobenzothiazole, and 2-amino-6-nitrobenzothiazole) and aniline—were synthesized. Nonlinear optical properties of these chromophores were studied by solvatochromic method (obtained compounds have β_CT value ∼10⁻²⁹ esu). Dependence among the structure of molecules, their dipole moments, and first hyperpolarizabilities was considered on the basis of semi-empirical calculations. A correlation between the measured and calculated β values was studied. The NLO chromophores were used as special monomers to synthesize copolyarylates. The basic characterization of obtained polymers was carried out.     

Theoretical Studies on the First Hyperpolarizabilities of One-dimensional Donor-bridge-acceptor Chromophores and New Applications of BLA in Determining Molecular First Hyperpolarizabilities

We present a quantum-chemical analysis of the relationship between the bond length alteration （BLA） and the static first hyperpolarizability of a series of one-dimensional （1D） chromophores with donor-bridge-acceptor （D-B-A） structures. The calculated results show that the parameter BLA can be considered as an indicator to evaluate the molecular first hyper- polarizability. Along the direction of molecular ground-state dipole moments, the evolutions of BLA can be classified into three categories： the first is a non-monotonic line, which represents most chromophores; the second is monotonic increasing; and the third, contrarily, is monotonic decreasing. On the whole, the first hyperpolarizabilities of these studied chromophores are the monotonic functions of BLA along the direction of dipole moments. Therefore, the first hyperpolarizability of these 1D chromophores can be preliminarily evaluated in terms of the development of BLA without a rigorous computation. In other words, one can roughly estimate the relative magnitude of the first hyperpolarizability according to the optimized geometry.     

First hyperpolarizability of polymethineimine with long-range corrected functionals

Using the long-range corrected (LC) density functional theory (DFT) scheme introduced by Iikura et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 115, 3540 (2001)] and the Coulomb-attenuating model (CAM-B3LYP) of Yanai et al. [Chem. Phys. Lett. 393, 51 (2004)], we have calculated the longitudinal dipole moments and static electronic first hyperpolarizabilities of increasingly long polymehtineimine oligomers. For comparison purposes Hartree-Fock (HF), Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), and conventional pure and hybrid functionals have been considered as well. HF, generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and conventional hybrids provide too large dipole moments for long oligomers, while LC-DFT allows to reduce the discrepancy with respect to MP2 by a factor of 3. For the first hyperpolarizability, the incorrect evolution with the chain length predicted by HF is strongly worsened by BLYP, Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), and also by B3LYP and PBE0. On the reverse, LC-BLYP and LC-PBE hyperpolarizabilities are correctly predicted to be positive (but for the two smallest chains). Indeed, for medium and long oligomers LC hyperpolarizabilities are slightly smaller than MP2 hyperpolarizabilities, as it should be. CAM-B3LYP also strongly improves the B3LYP results, though a bit less impressively for small chain lengths. The present study demonstrates the efficiency of long-range DFT, even in very pathological cases.     

Localized emitting state and energy transfer properties of quadrupolar chromophores and (multi)branched derivatives

In order to better understand the nature of intramolecular charge and energy transfer in multibranched molecules, we have synthesized and studied the photophysical properties of a monomer quadrupolar chromophore with donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) electronic push-pull structure, together with its V-shaped dimer and star-shaped trimers. The comparison of steady-state absorption spectra and fluorescence excitation anisotropy spectra of these chromophores show evidence of weak interaction (such as charge and energy transfer) among the branches. Moreover, similar fluorescence and solvation behavior of monomer and branched chromophores (dimer and trimer) implies that the interaction among the branches is not strong enough to make a significant distinction between these molecules, due to the weak interaction and intrinsic structural disorder in branched molecules. Furthermore, the interaction between the branches can be enhanced by inserting π bridge spacers (-C═C- or -C≡C-) between the core donor and the acceptor. This improvement leads to a remarkable enhancement of two-photon cross-sections, indicating that the interbranch interaction results in the amplification of transition dipole moments between ground states and excited states. The interpretations of the observed photophysical properties are further supported by theoretical investigation, which reveal that the changes of the transition dipole moments of the branched quadrupolar chromophores play a critical role in observed the two-photon absorption (2PA) cross-section for an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state interaction in the multibranched quadrupolar chromophores.     

Synthesis and features of nonlinear optical switches based on dithienylethene unit

Two nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores C1 and C2 based on dithienylethene were designed and synthesized as the ultraviolet NLO switches. The open/close behavior of C1 and C2 were investigated through the UV–vis spectra. Through quantum chemical calculations of the dipole moments, first and second hyperpolarizabilities, etc. we analyzed both opening and closure states of C1 and C2. The NLO switch ability of the chromophores were studied through monitoring of the SHG at the opening/closure states, which were performed under illumination of fourth harmonic generation of the nanosecond Nd:YAG laser (λ?=?266?nm). The obtained results indicated that the maximal SHG changes were observed at energy density equal to about 90?J/m², and the samples C1, 2′ closure states possess significantly higher value of the second order susceptibility compared to the opening states. After switching off of the external UV light, the induced second order susceptibilities remain up to 150?h without a decrease, which indicated that the obtained chromophores have the potential application as the NLO switches applied in photonics.     

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of a macrocyclic trichromophore bundle with parallel-aligned dipole moments

A macrocyclic trichromophore bundle 1 with parallel-aligned dipole moments has been synthesized to study the influence of aggregation and orientation of a nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore on its optical properties. The linear and nonlinear optical properties of 1 and a single chromophore standard 2 have been studied by UV-vis absorption, fluorescence, solvatochromic spectrometry, and hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS). Reduced first-order hyperpolarizability beta, hypsochromic shift, enhanced solvatochromic shifts, and fluorescence quenching for individual chromophores were observed when 1 was compared with 2. Analysis of the data showed that the transition dipole moment changes only slightly when the chromophores are parallel aligned in the bundle architecture. However, the apparent hyperpolarizability of the individual chromophores decreased significantly by about 20%. The reduction in beta for the individual chromophores in 1 is largely due to the hypsochromic shift, i.e., excitation energy increase of the interband (charge-transfer) energy gap and the reduced difference between the ground-state and excited-state dipole moments. The hypsochromic shift and fluorescence quenching are consistent with exciton theory. Possible reasons for the enhanced solvatochromic shift are discussed.     

Theoretical Calculations of Dipole Moments,Polarizabilities, and Hyperpolarizabilities of HF,OCS, O3, CH3F,and CH3Cl by Local Density Approximation

The dipole moments, polarizabilities, and hyperpolarizabilities of five molecules (HF, OCS, O₃, CH₃F, and CH₃Cl) have been computed at their experimental equilibrium geometries using the deMon density functional program. For molecules of such sizes, we augmented the basis set of valence double-zeta plus polarization functions with field-induced polarization functions. Contamination of least-squares fitted parameters by higher-order hyperpolarizabilities have been greatly reduced by fitting the field-dependent dipole moments to eighth order polynomials using as many as 37 points per molecule. The results compare well with experiment.     

Dipole moments of some substituted benzaldehydes. Conformational preference of substituents ortho to the aldehyde group

The dipole moments of a number of substituted benzaldehydes are measured in benzene solution. The angle which the dipole axis of the CHO group makes with the axis of rotation of the group is determined. The observed moments of the ortho-substituted benzaldehydes are compared with the moments calculated for free rotation as well as fors-trans ands-cis orientations of the -CHO group.o-Fluorobenzaldehyde exists mostly in thes-trans conformation.o-Chloro-,o-bromo-ando-nitro-benzaldehydcs also exist in thes-trans conformation; their observed dipole moments are even lower than the values calculated fors-trans forms, indicating mutual induction of the ortho substituents. Though 2,5-dichlorobenzaldehyde is expected to have the same dipole moment as benzaldehyde, the observed moment is significantly lower due to mutual induction of the ortho substituents. 2,5-Dimethylbcnzaldehyde has, however, almost the same moment as benzaldehyde. The dipole moment ofo-methoxybcnzaldchyde is considerably higher than the values calculated for boths-cis ands-trans conformations. An explanation is given for this.o-Hydroxybenzaldehyde exists exclusively in thes-cis form due to internal H-bonding.     

Ultralarge hyperpolarizability twisted pi-electron system electro-optic chromophores: synthesis, solid-state and solution-phase structural characteristics, electronic structures, linear and nonlinear optical properties, and computational studies

This contribution details the synthesis and chemical/physical characterization of a series of unconventional twisted pi-electron system electro-optic (EO) chromophores. Crystallographic analysis of these chromophores reveals large ring-ring dihedral twist angles (80-89 degrees) and a highly charge-separated zwitterionic structure dominating the ground state. NOE NMR measurements of the twist angle in solution confirm that the solid-state twisting persists essentially unchanged in solution. Optical, IR, and NMR spectroscopic studies in both the solution phase and solid state further substantiate that the solid-state structural characteristics persist in solution. The aggregation of these highly polar zwitterions is investigated using several experimental techniques, including concentration-dependent optical and fluorescence spectroscopy and pulsed field gradient spin-echo (PGSE) NMR spectroscopy in combination with solid-state data. These studies reveal clear evidence of the formation of centrosymmetric aggregates in concentrated solutions and in the solid state and provide quantitative information on the extent of aggregation. Solution-phase DC electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation (EFISH) measurements reveal unprecedented hyperpolarizabilities (nonresonant mubeta as high as -488,000 x 10(-48) esu at 1907 nm). Incorporation of these chromophores into guest-host poled polyvinylphenol films provides very large electro-optic coefficients (r(33)) of approximately 330 pm/V at 1310 nm. The aggregation and structure-property effects on the observed linear/nonlinear optical properties are discussed. High-level computations based on state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) methods provide a new rationale for these exceptional hyperpolarizabilities and demonstrate significant solvation effects on hyperpolarizabilities, in good agreement with experiment. As such, this work suggests new paradigms for molecular hyperpolarizabilities and electro-optics.     

DFT Study of Solvent Effects for Some Organic Molecules Using a Polarizable Continuum Model

Forty ionic molecules are studied by DFT (B3LYP, B3P86), MP4 with different basis sets using the PCM/UAHF model within the self-consistent reaction-field method to assess solvent effects. For these molecules, the solvation free energies (ΔG _sol) in water and the dipole moments in vacuoas well as in water are obtained. By comparing the calculated values of ΔG _sol with experimental values and molecular simulation results, it is found that the ΔG _sol values generated by the DFT method are in better agreement with experimental values. Moreover, especially for the B3LYP/6-31+G_∗ level, the results of both ΔG _sol and dipole moments are more accurate considering the lower computational cost. It can be noted that the dipole moments of solutes in water show some increase relative to those in vacuo.     

手性联萘桥联双卟啉的电子光谱与二阶非线性光学性质

在6-31G(d,p)水平上用B3LYP方法对手性联萘桥联双卟啉系列分子进行几何构型优化. 用半经验ZINDO/S方法计算了这些分子的电子光谱, 结果表明手性联萘桥联双卟啉中两个卟啉生色团之间存在强的激子耦合作用, B带的Davydov分裂大小与两个卟啉环的相对取向以及卟啉环中心之间距离有关. 用ZINDO/SOS方法计算了分子的一阶超极化率. 卟啉环上引入推/拉电子基团可以有效地提高手性联萘桥联双卟啉的二阶非线性光学系数. 一阶超极化率的大小与双卟啉中推/拉电子基团的空间排列方式有关. 一阶超极化率的提高不仅与分子激发态与基态偶极矩差增大有关, 还和基态偶极矩与激子耦合激发态跃迁矩矢量的相对取向密切相关.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-substituted push–pull chromophores: an investigation of optoelectronic and nonlinear optical properties using experimental and theoretical approaches

A series of new push–pull chromophores were synthesized in moderate to very high yields (65%–97%) by treating TCNE and TCNQ with alkynes substituted by electron-rich diethylaniline and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some of the chromophores exhibit strong intramolecular charge-transfer bands in the near-IR region with λ_max values between 695 and 749 nm. With the help of experimental and theoretical analysis, it is concluded that the trend in λ _max values is affected by PAH substituents sterically, not electronically. Steric constraints led to the increased dihedral angles, reducing conjugation efficiencies. The absorption properties of push-pull compounds have been investigated in solvents possessing different polarities. All chromophores exhibited positive solvatochromism. As an additional proof of efficient charge-transfer in push–pull chromophores, quinoid character (dr) values were predicted using calculated bond lengths. Remarkably, substantial dr values (0.045–0.049) were predicted for donor diethylaniline rings in all compounds. The effects of various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on optical and nonlinear optical properties were also studied by computational methods. Several parameters, such as band gaps, Mulliken electronegativity, chemical hardness and softness, dipole moments, average polarizability, first hyperpolarizability, were predicted for chromophores at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory. The predicted first hyperpolarizability β_(tot) values vary between 198 to 538 × 10^–30 esu for the reported push–pull chromophores in this study. The highest predicted β_(tot) value in this study is 537.842 × 10^–30 esu, 8150 times larger than the predicted β_(tot) value of benchmark NLO material urea, suggests possible utilization of these chromophores in NLO devices. The charge-transfer character of the synthesized structures was further confirmed by HOMO-LUMO depictions and electrostatic potential maps.     

Quantum-chemical calculation of electrooptical properties of vanillin tautomers

Static dipole polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of benzoid and p-quinoid molecular forms of vanillin were calculated using quantum-chemical method B3LYP/cc-pVTZ. The dominant benzoid tautomers much exceed in hyperpolarizability the m-nitroaniline molecule. Tautomeric transformations and conformational changes significantly affect the vanillin hyperpolarizability. Quinoid tautomers generated by the topochemical reaction of proton transfer between neighboring molecules in a vanillin crystal can promote the second harmonic generation of infrared laser light only as an element of supramolecular nanostructures (linear defects) with a high hyperpolarizability.