Electronic and nonlinear optical properties of 2-(((5-aminonaphthalen-1-yl)imino)methyl)phenol: Experimental and time-dependent density functional studies

In this study, solvent dependence of electronic and nonlinear optical properties of a new Schiff base, 24(((5-aminonaphthalen-1-yl)imino)methyl) phenol (DANOHB), has been investigated. Electronic and optical properties of the Schiff base studied using Uv-visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques in solution show that the Schiff base exhibits fluorescence with a quantum yield of 0.21 and a Stokes shift of 39 mm. Quantum chemical calculations were performed on the Schiff base at time-dependent density functional level of theory using Becke-3-Lee-Yang-Parr method with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Solvent dependence of the excited state energies (EE), energy gap (Delta E), first-order (beta) and second-order (gamma) hyperpolarizabilities were studied in gas, cyclohexane and ethanol. The medium perturbed the energy levels which implies that the reactivity, activity and stability of the system arc solvent sensitive. The gamma is more than thirty times higher than urea (standard NLO material) and this property is further enhanced in less polar medium. Small Delta E and large hyperpolarizabilities obtained for this system suggest its good potential in photonics and nonlinear optical devices. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.