Synthesis and nonlinear optical properties of polyester containing 4‐di‐(2′‐hydroxyethoxy)‐4‐diphenyl‐hydrazonomethyl chromophore

The nonlinear optical property of new polyester has been studied via second harmonic generation (SHG). The values of electro‐optic coefficients, d₃₃ and d₃₁, of the poled polymer film were 3.15 × 10 ^?7 and 1.5 × 10^?7 esu, respectively. Thermal behavior of this polyester was studied through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). 4‐di‐(2′‐hydroxyethoxy)‐4‐diphenyl‐hydrazonomethyl was synthesized from the reaction of 3,4‐dihydroxy‐4‐diphenyl‐hydrazonomethyl with 2–chloro–1‐ethanol in a 1:2 mole ratio and subsequently reacted with terephthaloyl chloride (TPC) in the presence of pyridine, as catalyst, to produce the new nonlinear polyester. The chemical structures of the resulting monomers and polymer were characterized by CHN analysis, ¹H‐NMR, FT‐IR, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.