Triphenylamine-based highly active two-photon absorbing chromophores with push-pull systems

Two triphenylamine-based star-type push-pull chromophores(T1, T2) were designed and synthesized.Triphenylamine serves as the central core and acts as an electron-donating group surrounded by electronwithdrawing pentafluorobenzene or N,N-dimethyl substituted tetrafluorobenzene, which are connected by ethylene bridges. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction confirmed the structures and molecular arrangement of two chromophores. The systematic photophysical research of T1 and T2 absorption characteristics was carried out to gain a better understanding of how structure-property relationships affect the observed nonlinear optical absorption phenomenon. Complementary calculations based on density functional theory(DFT) further confirmed the experimental results. Both chromophores exhibited excellent two-photon absorption(TPA) properties in CH_(2)Cl_(2). Notably, T2 has more remarkable nonlinear optical absorption effects with the TPA cross-section up to 4.24 × 10~7GM. By adjusting the electronic structures of the chromophores through introducing pentafluorobenzene or N,N-dimethyl as functional groups with different electron-donating or withdrawing behaviors, the TPA performance of the small organic molecule could be greatly enhanced. These molecular structures with push-pull systems were excellent candidates for different two-photon applications.