M. Cidália R. Castro

Fluorescence and two-photon absorption of push–pull aryl(bi)thiophenes: structure–property relationships

Photophysical and TPA properties of series of push-pull aryl(bi)thiophene chromophores bearing electron-donating (D) and electron-withdrawing (A) end-groups of increasing strength are presented. All compounds show an intense intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) absorption band in the visible region. Increasing the D and/or A strength as well as the length of the conjugated path induces bathochromic and hyperchromic shifts of the absorption band as reported for analogous push-pull polyenes. Yet, in contrast with corresponding push-pull polyenes, a significant increase in fluorescence is observed. In particular, chromophores built from a phenyl-bithienyl conjugated path and bearing strong D and A end-groups were found to combine very large one and two-photon brightness as well as strong emission in the red/NIR region. These molecules hold promise as biphotonic fluorescent probes for bioimaging.

Molecular photo-oscillators based on highly accelerated heterocyclic azo dyes in nematic liquid crystals

Benzothiazole-pyrrole-based azo dyes greatly enhance their thermal isomerisation rate by up to 160 times when they are under the influence of the nematic mean field yielding the LC-based photochromic oscillators with the highest oscillation frequencies reported so far (2.6 kHz at 298 K).

Optical and Photovoltaic Properties of Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-Based Push–Pull Organic Dyes with Different Anchoring Groups for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The effect of anchoring groups on the optical and electrochemical properties of triphenylamine-thienothiophenes, and on the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs photosensitized with the prepared dyes, was studied using newly synthesized compounds with cyanoacetic acid or rhodanine-3-acetic acid groups. Precursor aldehydes were synthesized through Suzuki cross-coupling, whereas Knoevenagel condensation of these with 2-cyanoacetic acid or rhodanine-3-acetic acid afforded the final push–pull dyes. A comprehensive photophysical study was performed in solution and in the solid state. The femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectra for the synthesized dyes were obtained following photoexcitation in solution and for the dyes adsorbed to TiO2 mesoporous films. Information on conformation, electronic structure, and electron distribution was obtained by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations. Triphenylamine–thienothiophene functionalized with a cyanoacetic acid anchoring group displayed the highest conversion efficiency (3.68%) as the dye sensitizer in nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cells. Coadsorption studies were performed for this dye with the ruthenium-based N719 dye, and they showed dye power conversion efficiencies enhanced by 20–64%. The best cell performance obtained with the coadsorbed N719 and cyanoacetic dye showed an efficiency of 6.05%.

Synthesis and Characterization of the Photophysical Properties of Novel Heterocyclic Imines

Imine derivatives are an important class of compounds due their biological and optical properties making them suitable for several applications as chemosensor, photochromic, two-photon absorption (TPA) and nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. Additionally, Schiff bases can be used as ligands, able to complex with different metals in various oxidation states, showing great catalytic activity. Imines having intramolecular hydrogen-bonding are a versatile class of compounds for the design of optical materials since proton transfer in these systems origin the change of their optical properties.As part of an on-going research to develop efficient heterocyclic systems for optical applications (NLO, photochromic, chemosensor, etc) we report in this communication the synthesis and the photophysical characterization of heterocyclic imines 1 and 2 functionalized with thiadiazole or benzothiazole as acceptor groups linked to an aryl ring.AcknowledgementsThanks are due to Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT-Portugal) and FEDER-COMPETE for financial support through Centro de Quimica [PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2011 (F-COMP-01-0124-FEDER-022716)] and a PhD grant to M.C.R. Castro (SFRH/BD/78037/2011). The NMR spectrometer Bruker Avance III 400 is part of the National NMR Network and was purchased with funds from FCT and FEDER. We are also grateful to the Instituto da Educacao of Universidade do Minho for providing the laboratory infrastructure necessary for the development of this work.

Synthesis and evaluation of NLO properties of π-conjugated donor‐acceptor systems bearing pyrrole and thiophene heterocycles

Two series of novel push-pull heterocyclic azo dyes have been synthesized and characterized. The two series of compounds were based on different combinations of π-conjugated bridges (bithiophene and thienylpyrrole) which also act simultaneously as donor groups, together with diazo(benzo)thiazolyl as acceptor moieties. Their thermal stability and electrochemical behavior were characterized, while hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) was employed to evaluate their second-order nonlinear optical properties. The results of these studies have been critically analyzed together with several thienylpyrrole azo dyes reported earlier from our laboratories in which the thienylpyrrole system was used as the donor group functionalized with aryl and (benzo)thiazolyldiazene as acceptor moiety. The measured molecular first hyperpolarizabilities and the observed linear optical and redox behavior showed strong variations in function of the heterocyclic spacers used (bithiophene or thienylpyrrole) and were also sensitive to the acceptor strength of the diazenehetero(aryl) moiety.

Highly efficient and thermally stable NLO organic materials based on pyrrole and thiophene heterocycles

A series of novel donor-acceptor chromophores designed to have good second order nonlinear optical responses has been synthesized and characterized. This series of compounds was designed to explore the consequence of using different electron accepting moieties which were linked through an arylthiophene bridge to a pyrrole heterocycle that plays the role of an auxiliary donor group. These new push-pull chromophores have been extensively characterized using cyclic voltammetry, thermogravimetric analysis and hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) in solution. The measured molecular first hyperpolarizabilities and the observed electrochemical behavior showed that they were very sensitive to the acceptor strength of the acceptor moieties. Moreover, the combination of their good nonlinearity and high thermal stability make them good candidates for potential device applications.