Organic and organometallic compounds for nonlinear absorption of light

The demand for protection of eyes and various types of optical sensors from laser-beam pulses has resulted in the search for optical limiting devices that have the property of being transparent at low intensity of light (normal light), but non-transparent towards high intensity (laser) light. This type of protection may be obtained by using an organic material that displays nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. Examples of NLO effects that can be used for optical limiting are reverse saturable absorption (RSA), two-photon absorption (TPA) and nonlinear refraction. The advantage of using compounds that show such NLO effects is that they can have very fast response and are self-activating, that is, there is no need for externally controlled switching to obtain optical limiting. In this work, several dialkynyl substituted thiophenes and some thiophenyl-alkynyl-platinum(II)-complexes were synthesized and tested for nonlinear absorption of light. A palladium-copper mediated coupling (Sonogashira coupling) was utilized for all reactions between terminal alkynes and aryl halides. Molecular orbital calculations were used in order to screen for suitable properties, such as the second hyperpolarizability, in compounds of interest. A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSPR) study using a PLS approach were performed in order to identify important molecular electronic variables for optical limiting of organic compounds.