Investigation of the Antioxidant and UV Absorption Properties of 2-(2’-hydroxy-5’-methylphenyl)-benzotriazole and Its Ortho-Substituted Derivatives via DFT/TD-DFT

The demand and pursuit of chemical entities with UV filtration and antioxidant properties for enhanced photoprotection have been driven in recent times by acute exposure of humans to solar ultraviolet radiations. The structural, electronic, antioxidant and UV absorption properties of drometrizole (PBT) and designed ortho-substituted derivatives are reported via DFT and TD-DFT in the gas and aqueous phases. DFT and TD-DFT computations were performed at the M062x-D3Zero/6-311++G(d,p)//B97-3c and PBE0-D3(BJ)/def2-TZVP levels of theory respectively. Reaction enthalpies related to hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), single-electron transfer followed by proton transfer (SET-PT), and sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET) mechanisms were computed and compared with those of phenol. Results show that the presence of -NH2 substituent reduces the O-H bond dissociation enthalpy and ionization potential, while that of -CN increases the proton affinity. The HAT and SPLET mechanisms are the most plausible in the gas and aqueous phases respectively. The molecule with the -NH2 substituent (PBT1) was identified to be the compound with the highest antioxidant activity. The UV spectra of the studied compounds are characterized by two bands in the 280 - 400 nm regions. Results from this study provide a better comprehension antioxidant mechanism of drometrizole and present a new perspective for the design of electron-donor antioxidant molecules with enhanced antioxidant-photoprotective efficiencies for applications in commercial sunscreens.

A Quantum Chemical Screening of Two Imidazole-Chalcone Hybrid Ligands and Their Pd, Pt and Zn Complexes for Charge Transport and Nonlinear Optical (NLO) Properties: A DFT Study

A quantum chemical screening of two imidazole-based chalcone ligands: 2- [1-(3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)propylimino)-3-(phenylallyl)]phenol and 2-[1-(3-(1H- imidazol-1-yl)propylimino)-3-4-nitrophenylallyl]phenol (hereinafter referred to as HL1 and HL2 respectively) and their Pd, Pt and Zn chelates for charge transport and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, is reported via dispersion- corrected density functional theory (DFT-D3) and time-dependent DFT (TD- DFT) methods. From our results, Pd and Pt complexes have been observed to show excellent hole-transport properties, owing to their very small reorganization energies. The light extraction efficiency of the HL1-Pt complex was deduced to be particularly impressive, thus suitable for the manufacture of hole transport layer in violet light emitting diodes (LEDs). Moreover, redox potentials and chemical stability studies have enabled us to validate the greater stability in moisture (towards oxidation), of HL2 complexes compared to their HL1 counterparts. The first and second hyperpolarizabilities of both ligands and their complexes have been found to be outstandingly higher than those of the push-pull prototypical, para-nitroaniline by factors of up to 12 in the case of HL2. These compounds, with the exception of the HL2-Pt complex, are thus interesting candidates having wide transparency tradeoffs for NLO efficiency in the manufacture of optoelectronic and photonic devices capable of second and third-order NLO response. Finally, metal chelation has been established to enhance the NLO response of all the chalcone-based imidazole ligands investigated as a result of metal-ligand charge transfer and ligand- metal charge transfer electronic transitions identified in the resulting complexes with the exception of the zinc complexes.