Effect of Molecular Interactions and Homologue Number on UV Absorption Spectra of Liquid Crystalline Alkyl Cyanobiphenyl Dimers: DFT Calculations

Abstract

The ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectra of the liquid crystalline dimer complexes of 4′-n-alkyl-4-cyanobiphenyls (nCB: n = 3, 4, 5 where n is the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain) have been presented. The nCB structures have been optimized using the density functional Becke3-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) hybrid functional with 6-31+G (d) basis set using the crystallographic geometry as input. The electronic structures of the dimer molecules have been computed using the optimized geometries. The spectra of the dimer molecules have been calculated by employing the density functional theory (DFT). The features of electronic transitions and excited states have been calculated via configuration interaction singles (CIS) with the semiempirical Hamiltonian Zerner intermediate neglect of differential overlap (ZINDO). The various modes of molecular interactions and the homologue number are found to be structural parameters affecting the formation of mesophases, UV absorption spectral characteristics, and photo stability of the compounds. These results offer a hint for the calculations involving the different modes of molecular interactions, and separations between dimers, to model photo stability or in tuning the absorbing chromophore to match the wavelength of desired application.