Abstract : The geometrical structures, relative Z-E energies, and second-order nonlinear responses of a collection of azobenzene molecules symmetrically substituted in meta- position with functional groups of different bulkiness are investigated using various ab initio and DFT levels of approximation. We show that RI-MP2 and RI-CC2 approximations provide very similar geometries and relative energies and evidence that London dispersion interactions existing between bulky meta-substituents stabilize the Z con- former. The !B97-X-D exchange-correlation functional provides an accurate description of these effects and gives a good account of the nonlinear optical response of the molecules. We show that density functional approximations should include no less than 50% of Hartree-Fock exchange to provide accurate hyperpolarizabilities. A property-structure analysis of the azobenzene derivatives reveals that the main contribution to the first hyperpolarizability comes from the azo bond, but phenyl meso-substituents can enhance it.

Abstract : Nanoscale structures, including molecules, supramolecules, polymers, functionalized surfaces, and crystalline/amorphous solids, can commute between two or more forms, displaying contrasts in their nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. Because of this property, they have high potential for applications in data storage, signal processing, and sensing. As potential candidates for integration into responsive materials, scientists have been intensely studying organic and organometallic molecules with switchable first hyperpolarizability over the past two decades. As a result of this, researchers have been able to synthesize and characterize several families of molecular NLO switches that differ by the stimulus used to trigger the commutation. These stimuli can include light irradiation, pH variation, redox reaction, and ion recognition, among others. The design of multistate (including several switchable units) and multifunctional (triggered with different stimuli) systems has also motivated a large amount of work, aiming at the improvement of the storage capacity of optical memories or the diversification of the addressability of the devices.

In complement to the synthesis of the compounds and the characterization of their NLO responses by means of hyper-Rayleigh scattering, quantum chemical calculations play a key role in the design of molecular switches with high first hyperpolarizability contrasts. Through the latter, we can gain a fundamental understanding of the various factors governing the efficiency of the switches. These are not easily accessible experimentally, and include donor/acceptor contributions, frequency dispersion, and solvent effects.

In this Account, we illustrate the similarities of the experimental and theoretical tools to design and characterize highly efficient NLO switches but also the difficulties in comparing them. After providing a critical overview of the different theoretical approaches used for evaluating the first hyperpolarizabilities, we report two case studies in which theoretical simulations have provided guidelines to design NLO switches with improved efficiencies. The first example presents the joint theoretical/experimental characterization of a new family of multi-addressable NLO switches based on benzazolo-oxazolidine derivatives. The second focuses on the photoinduced commutation in merocyanine–spiropyran systems, where the significant NLO contrast could be exploited for metal cation identification in a new generation of multiusage sensing devices. Finally, we illustrate the impact of environment on the NLO switching properties, with examples based on the keto–enol equilibrium in anil derivatives. Through these representative examples, we demonstrate that the rational design of molecular NLO switches, which combines experimental and theoretical approaches, has reached maturity. Future challenges consist in extending the investigated objects to supramolecular architectures involving several NLO-responsive units, in order to exploit their cooperative effects for enhancing the NLO responses and contrasts.

Abstract : This work demonstrates that the recognition of cations by molecular switches can give rise to large contrasts of the second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, which can therefore be used as a powerful and multi-usage detection tool. The proof of concept is given by evidencing, by means of ab initio calculations, the ability of spiropyran/merocyanine systems to selectively detect alkali, alkaline earth, and transition-metal cations.

Abstract : Thin films of amorphous pDR1M azobenzene homopolymer have been wire poled under high-field conditions. All poled films show a very efficient axial and also a strong polar ordering, as shown by polarized UV−visible measurements and SHG experiments. One of the most striking experimental evidences is an increasing new narrow absorption band around 400 nm, which is detected by using p-polarized light under various incidence angles. Such a spectral feature has already been observed in a few azobenzene-containing liquid-crystal polymers. The poled structures are very stable at room temperature: more than one year after poling, 70% of the initial SHG signal is still preserved in films with a thickness larger than 150 nm. The macroscopic polar ordering is nearly destroyed upon heating the poled film at near 80 °C, i.e., ∼45 °C below the Tg of the starting polymer. A proposed general approach allows the determination of the anisotropic optical constants that simulates nicely all the polarized absorption spectra at several angles of incidence. In particular, the induced birefringence after poling is evaluated as high as ∼0.21 at 1.064 μm, far from any charge-transfer resonance. Finally, from a detailed comparative study of the electronic spectra of a DR1 solution in chloroform and of an unpoled, a poled, and a thermally depoled film, we have shown that the absorption spectra can be nicely deconvoluted into three main bands. Most of the spectroscopic changes upon dc field poling are then qualitatively and quantitatively explained; they come from a significant intensity decrease of the high-energy π−π* transition (−12%) in favor of the low-energy DT band (+12%) and the estimated 〈P2〉 order parameters for these transitions are quite large (∼+0.50), confirming a high degree of ordering.

Abstract : This work combines hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) experiments performed in the NIR range (1.30 and 1.60 μm) and quantum chemical calculations to provide a comprehensive description of the second harmonic generation (SHG) responses of donor–acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs). Representative derivatives of the three generations of DASAs, which differ by the nature of their electron-donating and withdrawing moieties and also include clickable species, have been synthesized and their photoswitching behavior fully characterized. The HRS measurements allow us to establish relationships between the magnitude of the SHG response of open forms and the nature of the donor and acceptor groups. The largest SHG responses are obtained for derivatives incorporating either a barbituric acid or an indanedione acceptor unit, while N-methylaniline appears as the most efficient donor group. The calculations support well the experimental data and show that high hyperpolarizabilities are associated to low excitation energies and large extent of the photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer, which enhances the dipole moment variation between the ground and first dipole-allowed electronic excited state. In addition, a complete investigation of the photoswitching kinetics of DASAs in chloroform solution shows important differences, highlighting in particular the role of the donor group on the photoswitching efficiency.