Theoretical analyses of the effects on the linear and quadratic nonlinear optical properties of N-arylation of pyridinium groups in stilbazolium dyes.
N-Arylation of the pyridinium electron acceptor unit in stilbazolium chromophores has been found by previous experimental hyper-Rayleigh scattering and electronic Stark effect (electroabsorption) spectroscopic studies to lead to substantial increases in the static first hyperpolarizability beta(0). We show here that INDO/SCI calculations on the isolated cations trans-4'-(dimethylamino)-N-R-4-stilbazolium (R = methyl 1, phenyl 2, 2,4-dinitrophenyl 3, or 2-pyrimidyl 4) predict only slight red-shifts in the energy of the intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) transition and accompanying relatively small changes in beta(0) on moving along the series. The inclusion of acetonitrile solvent using a polarizable continuum model affords a somewhat better agreement with the experimental data, especially the red-shifting of the ICT transition and the increase in beta(0) on going from 1 to 4. Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), finite field, and coupled perturbed Hartree-Fock calculations reproduce even more closely the empirical data and trends; the latter two approaches lead to the highest quadratic nonlinear optical (NLO) response of the studied chromophores for 3, for which the predicted beta(0) is ca. 50-100% larger than that of the analogous N-methylated cation 1. Although the TD-DFT and INDO/SCI approaches give quite different results for ground- and excited-state dipole moments, the overall conclusions of these two methods regarding the ICT absorption and NLO responses are similar.
Coe
Benjamin J
BJ
School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. b.coe@man.ac.uk
Beljonne
David
D
Vogel
Henryk
H
Garín
Javier
J
Orduna
Jesús
J
D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000737:chemistry; D000478:Alkylation; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D011725:Pyridines / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory
D000097:Acetonitriles; D004396:Coloring Agents; D011725:Pyridines; C032159:acetonitrile