Synthesis, crystal growth and characterization of 1,5-diphenylpenta-1,4-dien-3-one: An organic crystal

1,5-Diphenylpenta-1,4-dien-3-one ( dibenzalacetone, DBA) was synthesized by a base-catalyzed aldol condensation reaction between benzaldehyde and acetone. High quality single crystals have been grown by the slow evaporation of ethanol solution and the crystal belongs to monoclinic system with centrosymmetric space group C 2/c. The DBA crystals are transparent in the entire visible region and have a lower optical cutoff at ∼440 nm. It is stable up to 119 °C and has a good chemical stability. The high resolution X-ray diffraction curve (DC) indicates that the specimen is free from structural grain boundaries. Molecular packing leads to a centrosymmetric arrangement resulting in zero second harmonic generation (SHG; χ(2)=0) efficiency.