Synthesis and Characterization of New Truxenones for Nonlinear Optical Applications

The synthesis of several new truxenones and one tris(dicyanomethylene) derivative substituted by different amines at positions 4, 9, and 14 is reported. A complete characterization of the NLO properties of representative derivatives was carried out by hyper-Rayleigh scattering; the major electronic effects and the influence of the structural modifications on the NLO properties have been examined. Because of their C 3 symmetry and their large first hyperpolarizability, the chiral versions of the tris(dicyanomethylene) truxene derivatives are of interest for second-order nonlinear optics in uniaxially aligned chiral media.