Second order molecular nonlinearities in new orthopalladated push-pull chromophores

Three new orthopalladated chromophores based on push-pull pi conjugated ligands have been prepared and characterized. The second order molecular NLO activity has been determined by EFISH measurements giving mu(g)/beta values up to 610 x 10(-48) esu at an incident laser wavelength of 1.907 mum. The X-ray structures of two different polymorphs of one chromophore are also reported and polymorphism is discussed in terms of conformational changes. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.