Synthesis and cubic nonlinear optical behavior of phenyl and ferrocenyl-ended resorcinarene-based dendrimers

Dendrimers were synthesized with phenyl and ferrocenyl-ended groups joined by vinyl moieties. All the dendrons used for dendrimers synthesis had showed trans configuration. This configuration as well as the ‘cone’ conformation of the resorcinarenes was preserved in the dendrimers, as it was shown by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The chemical structure and purity of the synthesized dendrimers were confirmed by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, FAB+, MALDI-TOF, electrospray mass spectra, and elemental analysis. Cubic nonlinear optical behavior of this first generation of resorcinarene dendrimers was studied. The χ⁽³⁾ values estimated from the THG Maker-fringe technique for the phenyl and ferrocenyl-ended resorcinarene dendrimers dispersed in thin solid films are of the order of 10⁻¹³ and 10⁻¹² esu, respectively.