Synthesis and two-photon absorption properties of 2,5-bis[4-(2-arylvinyl)phenyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazoles

Two symmetrical 2,5-bis[4-(2-arylvinyl)phenyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazoles that exhibit strong two-photon absorption and enhanced two-photon excited fluorescence were designed and synthesized based on “push-core-pull-core-push” molecules built from embedding electron-transporting 1,3,4-oxadiazole in aromatic conjugated system through Wittig–Horner reaction. Pumped by nanosecond laser at 800 nm, strong up-conversion emissions with the central wavelength at 507 nm (green) of 2,5-bis[4-(2-N,N-diphenylaminostyryl)phenyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole and 475 nm (blue) of 2,5-bis[4-{2-(3-N-ethylcarbazolyl)vinyl}phenyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazole in the solution of CHCl3 have been observed. Their two-photon absorption cross-sections obtained by nonlinear transmission method are 107 × 10−48 cm4 s photon−1 and 66 × 10−48 cm4 s photon−1. A very effective energy transfer from the excited terminal units to the π-conjugated bridging units of the 2,5-bis[4-(2-arylvinyl)phenyl]-1,3,4-oxadiazoles is the dominant contribution to the two-photon absorption.