Ferrocene based nonlinear optical chromophores: synthesis, characterization and study of optical properties

In this work, the design and synthesize of a series of D-pi-A-pi-D analogs were carried out by incorporating well-defined building blocks (ferrocene and pyran) with Knoevenagel condensation aiming to use them in optical applications. After characterization of the structure of synthesized compounds using H-1 and C-13 NMR, FT-IR and mass spectroscopy and CHN analysis, the electrochemical, photochemical and photophysical properties of these compounds were studied. The third order nonlinear refractive index, n(2), and nonlinear absorption coefficient, beta, of the synthesized chromophores were assessed by the open and closed aperture Z-scan measurements, respectively. The quantum chemistry study was performed on synthesized compounds with the DFT approach. The theoretical and experimental results show that these light-weight molecules can be considered as alternatives to high-weight polymers in optical applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.