Spectroscopic and quantum chemical study on a non-linear optical material 4-[(1E)-3-(5-chlorothiophen-2-yl)-3-oxoprop-1-en-1-yl]phenyl4-methylbenzene-1-sulfonate

Chalcone derivatives are known for their characteristic non-linear optical efficiency. In the present work, the relation between the molecular structure and non-linear optical properties of a synthesized chalcone derivative 4-[(1E)-3-(5-chlorothiophen-2-yl)-3-oxoprop-1-en-1-yl] phenyl4-methylbenzene-1-sulfonate (4TPMS) have been investigated by combined experimental and theoretical approaches. The title compound 4TPMS was characterized by spectroscopic techniques viz. Raman, FT-IR, UV-vis, and H-1 NMR. Further, the experimental findings were validated by quantum chemical computations. The crystalline geometry of 4TPMS was optimized to energy minima by employing density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) approximation level. Harmonic vibrational frequencies were calculated and the spectral assignments have been done by potential energy distribution (PED) analysis. Significant non-linear optical (NLO) responses of chalcone are mainly caused by charge delocalization between lone pair and antibonding molecular orbitals within the molecule. Hence, natural bond orbital (NBO) was performed to analyze the charge delocalization along with the stability of the molecule. The population analysis based on Charges from Electrostatic Potentials using a Grid based method (CHELPG) was employed to understand the electrophilic/nucleophilic reaction sites. Moreover, the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) was employed to predict the energies, absorption wavelengths (lambda(max)) and oscillator strengths (f) of the electronic transitions. The TD-DFT calculation successfully reproduces the experimental UV-Vis spectrum of 4TPMS. The chemical shifts observed in H-1-NMR and the calculated GIAO shielding tensors also showed good agreement. A vibrational contribution to the NLO activity and the effect of charge delocalization on the NLO response were illustrated by comparing the similar kind of chalcone derivatives. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Chalcone derivatives are known for their characteristic non-linear optical efficiency, and in this study, the relationship between molecular structure and non-linear optical properties of the synthesized chalcone derivative 4TPMS was investigated using experimental and theoretical methods. The results provided a comprehensive understanding of the NLO responses of chalcone and the charge delocalization within the molecule. The study contributes to the exploration of molecular optical properties and charge conjugation phenomena.