Prediction of structural, vibrational and nonlinear optical properties of small organic conjugated molecules derived from pyridine

Abstract

Nonlinear optical (NLO) effects of organic materials are caused by delocalized electrons and large polarization in molecules. In the present work, theoretical study by using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory on three types of pyridine derivates 2,6-dimethoxy-3,5-dinitropyridine (M1), 2-methoxy-3-nitropyridine (M2) and 2-methoxy-5-nitropyridine (M3) is reported. The nuclear magnetic resonance (1H and 13C NMR) chemical shifts of the title compounds were calculated using the Gauge Independent Atomic Orbital (GIAO) method and compared to the observed results. Both infrared absorption and Raman are complementary to provide characteristic fundamental vibrations that are necessary for the identification of the molecular structures. Electronic properties such as frontier molecular orbital (HOMO, LUMO), ionization potential (IPad) and electronic affinity (EAad) were determined to get better insight into the molecular properties. Using the Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT), electronic absorption spectra have been predicted and closely matching the experimental findings. The natural bonding orbital (NBO) calculations were performed in order to elucidate various second order interactions in between the filled and vacant orbitals which are a measure of the intermolecular as well as the delocalization within the molecule. In addition, we have demonstrated that these molecular systems have large first static hyperpolarizabilities and may have potential applications in the development of NLO materials.