Effect of metal cation complexation on the nonlinear optical response of an electroactive bisiminopyridine ligand

•Effect of metal cation complexation on the NLO response.•Control of the nonlinear optical response of an electroactive bisiminopyridine ligand.•High NLO properties of the studied compounds.

We report on the third order nonlinearities of a bis-iminopyridine-tetrathiafulvalene appended ligand and of its corresponding zinc metal complex. The measurements have been carried out using the Z-scan technique employing 30 ps, 532 nm laser excitation. The nonlinear optical response of the zinc complex has been found to be significantly enhanced with respect to the ligand. We illustrate the possibility to control the nonlinear optical response of this electroactive bisiminopyridine ligand. Moreover the obtained results are discussed and compared with previous findings reported in the literature.