Synthesis and third-order nonlinear optical properties of novel ethynyl-linked heteropentamer composed of four porphyrins and one pyrene

Novel heteropentameric porphyrins-pyrene arrays, in which four meso-tetraphenyl porphyrins are linked to the center unit of pyrene by four acetylenyl bonds, were designed and synthesized. The newly synthesized heteropentameric compounds have been characterized by a wide range of spectroscopic methods. The third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of both the metal-free and zinc compounds of the three-dimensional arrays were investigated by Z-scan experiments, showing enhanced NLO properties compared with that of the porphyrin and pyrene monomers.