Igors Mihailovs

Triphenyl moieties as building blocks for obtaining molecular glasses with nonlinear optical activity

The incorporation of trityl and triphenylsilyl groups into low molecular weight molecules allows the formation of stable molecular glasses. A series of materials based on the N-phenyldiethanolamine core was synthesized bearing different azobenzenes and benzylydene-1,3-indandione as active chromophores. Molecular hyperpolarizability of the synthesized compounds was calculated by a restricted Hartree–Fock method with basis 6-31G(d,p) and measured in solutions by hyper-Rayleigh scattering. Non-linear optical (NLO) activity of the thin glassy films was confirmed after a corona poling procedure. Thermal sustainability of the NLO response of up to 85 °C was achieved. Quantum chemical calculations of the compounds revealed increased steric bulk and conformational freedom of the triphenylsilyl moiety. While the presence of the triphenylsilyl group results in more stable glasses and increased material nonlinearity, in the case of trityl groups, measured glass transition temperatures are higher.

Stereoselective synthesis and properties of 1,3-bis(dicyanomethylidene)indane-5-carboxylic acid acceptor fragment containing nonlinear optical chromophores

A series of organic push–pull type chromophores using indane-1,3-dione 5-carboxylic acid (IDCA) and novel 1,3-bis(dicyanomethylidene)indane 5-carboxylic acid (CICA) electron acceptor fragments have been synthesized and characterized. NMR and X-ray analysis revealed that condensation reactions with the CICA fragment were stereoselective and yielded benzylidenes and azomethines with E double bond configurations. Due to the non-planar geometry these compounds are chiral and were acquired as a racemic mixture. The subsequent functionalization of the carboxylic acid group with 5,5,5-triphenylpentan-1-ol yielded solution-processable glass forming materials (6, 8, 10, 13) with glass transition temperature values of 76–134 °C. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of these compounds were characterized using quantum chemical calculations and second harmonic generation (SHG) measurements in corona-poled thin glassy films. The twisted geometry of the CICA based materials was shown to be beneficial to the macroscopic NLO performance due to the less pronounced solid phase stacking compared to the flat IDCA based compounds. The presence of site isolating groups at both the acceptor and donor ends of the molecule in compound 13 resulted in a considerable NLO efficiency increase. Non-centrosymmetric crystals of CICA based N,N-dimethylaminobenzylidene 7b were obtained and showed a SHG response comparable to urea.

Hyper-Rayleigh scattering and two-photon luminescence of phenylamine- indandione chromophores

Based on results of quantum chemical (QC) screening, we put under research several phenylamine indane-1,3-dione derivatives including octupolar NLO chromophore A3BI. According to these calculations, molecular first hyperpolarizability (βHRS) should be enhanced upon replacement of methyl substituents with phenyl groups. Surprisingly, βHRS values obtained in our measurements by hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) are much higher than one could expect from QC. Bearing in mind that two-photon luminescence (TPL) is usual cause for overestimation of βHRS in HRS measurements, we have accomplished investigations of TPL properties of these compounds. All investigated triphenylamine derivatives exhibit strong TPL. In case of DANS and DMABI captured simultaneously, TPL spectra and HRS signal, reveal the least as clearly distinct on TPL background, thus TPL-free βHRS values can be defined. Concurrently, sharp HRS signal of DPABI is sinking in TPL and background noise along with increase in concentration. Due to fairly intensive TPL for other investigated triphenylamino compounds, the HRS signal was rather indistinguishable and therefore correct βHRS values could not be extracted.

Rational computing of energy levels for organic electronics: the case of 2-benzylidene-1,3-indandiones

Device engineering in organic electronics, an active area of research, requires knowledge of the energy levels of organic materials (traditionally but ambiguously denoted as HOMO and LUMO). These can be effectively determined by electrochemical investigation, but yet more effective would be quantum chemical (QC) computation of these quantities. However, there is no consensus on the computational method in the research community. Ongoing discussions often focus on choosing the right density functional method, but neglect other model parameters, in particular, the basis set. This study considers comparison of various methodologies and parameters for predicting ionization energy I and electron affinity A. Our aim was to outline a QC ‘recipe’ used in the search of new structures with desired energy levels for application in the field of organic electronics. Validation of calculated results to electrochemically determined values through linear regression and effect decomposition were used for compiling the recipe, ensuring trend-descriptive and resource–effective combination of QC model parameters. In particular, accounting for solvation by the medium is found to be essential and hardly consuming any additional CPU time. Basis set extension with extra valence functions is found to be much more effective than by adding diffuse functions. Among explored methods, B3LYP/6-311G(d) + CPCM is the recommended one for ionization energy, providing experimental quality results suitable for screening purposes. CAM-B3LYP is deemed more efficient for electron affinity, though by far not achieving the desired quality. Correction by computed reference redox pair potential is also found to be overall advantageous.

Synthesis and thermoelectric properties of 2- and 2,8-substituted tetrathiotetracenes

Reaction of elemental sulfur with 2-R1 and 2,8-R1,R2-substituted tetracenes (2) in refluxing DMF affords 5,6,11,12 tetrathiotetracenes (1) in good yields (74–99%) for a range of substituents where R1,R2 are: H,H (a); Me,H (b); MeO,H (c); Ph,H (d); Me,Me (e), iPr,Me (f, iPr = iso-propyl, CHMe2), Me,MeO (g); MeO,MeO (h). The reaction rate is limited only by the solubility of the tetracene (2); 2g–h being both the least soluble and slowest reacting. At partial conversion recovered single crystalline 2g led to its X-ray structure determination. Vacuum deposited (substrate deposition temperature 300 K, pressure 7 × 10−6 mbar, source temperature 500 K) thin films from 1 (of initial 88–99% purity) show final electrical conductivities, σ(in plane) from 1.40 × 10−5 S cm−1 (1g) to 3.74 × 10−4 S cm−1 (1b) for the resultant near pristine films; while 1d proved too involatile to be effectively sublimed under these conditions. In comparison, initially 95% pure TTT (1a) based films show σ(in-plane) = 4.33 × 10−5 S cm−1. The purities of 1a–h are highly upgraded during sublimation. Well defined micro-crystallites showing blade, needle or mossy like habits are observed in the films. The Seebeck coefficients (Sb) of the prepared 1 range from 374 (1c) to 900 (1f) μV K−1 (vs. 855 μV K−1 for identically prepared 95% pure TTT, 1a). Doping of films of 1f (R1 = iPr, R2 = Me) with iodine produces optimal p-type behaviour: σ(in-plane) = 7.00 × 10−2 S cm−1, Sb = 175 μV K−1. The latters power factor (PF) at 0.33 μW m−1 K−2 is more than 500 times that of the equivalent I2-doped TTT films (1a, R1 = R2 = H), previously regarded as the optimal material for thin film thermoelectric devices using acene radical cation motifs.

Determination of Kerr and two-photon absorption coefficients of indandione derivatives

We studied nonlinear optical properties of two different aminobenziliden-1,3-indandione derivatives – DDMABI and DMABI-OH by employing the Z-scan method. Through this we described how different donor and acceptor groups influence third-order nonlinear optical properties such as Kerr effect and two-photon absorption. During experimental measurements we used 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser with 30 ps pulse duration and 10 Hz repetition rate. From acquired values of Kerr and two-photon absorption coefficients we calculated values for real and imaginary parts of third-order susceptibility, as well as second-order hyperpolarizability. Quantum chemical calculations were carried out for secondorder hyperpolarizability to study how well calculations correlate with experimental values. Acquired data for DDMABI and DMABI-OH were compared with data for other ABI derivatives studied previously.

An improved molecular design of obtaining NLO active molecular glasses using triphenyl moieties as amorphous phase formation enhancers

New molecular design of obtaining molecular glasses has been developed by linking triphenylmethyl moieties to chromophore core by flexible C-C bridge. Compounds capable of forming stable amorphous phase with good optical quality have been acquired with increased chemical and thermal sustainability compared to the previously reported design. NLO activity of compounds has been measured after corona discharge polling. Compared to previously synthesized trityloxy fragment containing compounds increase of d33 coefficient by up to 17 times was achieved for the same chromophore core containing compounds.

Synthesis and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Novel N,N-Dihydroxyethyl-Based Molecular Organic Glasses Using Triaryl Substitutes as Amorphous Phase Formation Enhancers

In given study a new structural design of molecular NLO materials is presented where amorphous phase formation is achieved by introduction of bulky trityl and triphenylsilyl substituents. Obtained materials formed stable organic glasses with good optical quality and glass transition temperatures notably exceeding ambient. NLO activity was successfully measured in samples that underwent corona discharge poling. The comparison of both enhancer groups revealed, that trityl group increases thermal sustainability of material, while triphenylsilyl group better promotes formation and stability of amorphous phase.