Synthesis, crystal growth, characterization and structure-NLO property relationship in 1,3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one single crystal

High-quality single crystals of 1,3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (BMP) of size 20 mm×16 mm×5 mm have been grown by the slow evaporation of an acetone solution at 28 °C and characterized by elemental analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. BMP crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with the noncentrosymmetric space group P212121. The crystal melts at 107 °C and the average Vickers hardness number is 17 kg mm−2. BMP crystals are transparent in the entire visible region and have a lower optical cutoff at 435 nm. A Kurtz powder second harmonic generation (PSHG) measurement indicated that BMP and urea have similar responses. The observed SHG response for BMP is due to effective charge transfer arising from the donor-π-acceptor-π-donor (D-π-A-π-D) structure of the molecule and the weak C-H…π interaction observed in the crystal structure, which helps to stack the molecules in a noncentrosymmetric arrangement.