Synthesis, crystal structure, electrochemistry and third-order nonlinear optical properties of two novel ferrocene derivatives

• Two novel ferrocene derivatives have been designed, synthesized and fully characterized.
• The electrochemical properties of the two compounds were studied by cyclic voltammetric experiments.
• The third-order nonlinear optical properties were investigated by Z-scan technique.

Two novel ferrocene derivatives, N,N-diphenyl-4-E-((1-ferrocenyl) ethenyl) aniline (1), N,N-(4,4-diethoxyphenyl)-4-E-((1-ferrocenyl)ethenyl)aniline (2), were designed, synthesized and fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR and MALDI-TOF-MS spectra. Structure of (1) was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The UV–visible absorption spectra of the two compounds were investigated and verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Electrochemical and third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties have been shown by cyclic voltammetric experiments and open/closed aperture Z-scan measurements. The results show that the two compounds both are highly π-electron delocalization system, indicating potential applications as NLO materials. It is noteworthy that (1) possesses larger two-photon absorption (2 PA) coefficient β, 2 PA cross section σ and the third-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) than (2).

Two novel D1-π-D2 ferrocenyl compounds, (1) and (2), were designed, synthesized and fully characterized. They have potential applications as NLO materials and all-optical switching.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide