Two new series of phosphonato-substituted bithiophenes, BpP(X)(C4H2S)2H and BpP(X)(C4H2S)2P(X)Bp (Bp = 2,2'-C12H8O2, X = O, S, Se), have been synthesized and characterized using linear absorption and emission spectra, and third-order nonlinear absorption measurements at 430 nm with 27 ps laser pulses. The compounds were synthesized in three steps: (1) reacting lithiated bithiophene with (Et2N)2PCl; (2) reacting the product from the first step with biphenol; and (3) reacting the product from the second step with the appropriate chalcogen. The X-ray crystal structures of two of the compounds, BpP(O)(C4H2S)2P(O)Bp and BpP(Se)(C4H2S)2P(Se)Bp, are reported and show a number of intermolecular π-π interactions. The linear absorption spectra, emission spectra, and emission quantum yields show distinct trends with respect to the chalcogen and the number of phosphorus substituents attached to the 2,2'-bithiophene ring. The compounds show emission maxima at wavelengths ranging from 380-400 nm and, BpP(S)(C4H2S)2H shows a 23-fold increase in fluorescence quantum yield relative to that of 2,2'-bithiophene. Fluorescence lifetimes and radiative and non-radiative decay rate constants for the first singlet excited state have been extracted from the quantum yields using time-dependent DFT calculations. Nonlinear transmission measurements indicate that all of the compounds show nonlinear absorption at 430 nm with 27 ps laser pulses in spite of their low solubilities. Notably, the nonlinear absorption threshold of a 0.16 mol L(-1) CH2Cl2 solution of BpP(Se)(C4H2S)2H is 0.9 J cm(-2). The excellent emission quantum yields and good nonlinear absorptions make these compounds promising candidates for optical power limiting applications and as host materials for violet-blue organic light emitting diodes.

A series of bithiophene derivatives that are either symmetrically disubstituted with two Ph(2)(X)P groups (X = O, S, Se) or monosubstituted with one Ph(2)(X)P group (X = O, S, Se) and an organic functional group (H, CHO, CH(2)OH, CO(2)Me) have been synthesized. The X-ray crystal structures of Ph(2)(Se)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)P(Se)Ph(2), Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H, Ph(2)(S)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H, and Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)CH(2)OH exhibit very different solid-state structures depending on the type of intermolecular π-π interactions that occur. The compounds have been characterized by electronic absorption and fluorescence studies. Of particular interest is that the quantum yields of Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H, Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)P(O)Ph(2), Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)CO(2)Me, and Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)CH(2)OH are significantly larger than that of bithiophene (factors of 13, 14, 14, and 22, respectively). This behavior is quite different from that of analogously substituted terthiophenes in which substitution results in only modest increases in the quantum yields over that of terthiophene (factors of 0.94, 2.7, 1.3, and 1.5, respectively). DFT studies of the emission process suggest that modifying the Ph(2)(X)P group affects both the fluorescence and nonradiative rate constants while modifications of the organic substituents primarily affect the nonradiative rate constants. The higher quantum yields of the substituted bithiophenes make them promising for application in organic light-emitting devices (OLED). The optical power limiting (OPL) performances of these Ph(2)(X)P-substituted bithiophenes were evaluated by nonlinear transmission measurements in the violet-blue spectral region (430-480 nm) with picosecond laser pulses. The OPL performances are enhanced by heavier X groups and when by higher solubilities. Saturated chloroform solutions of Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H and Ph(2)(S)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H exhibit significantly stronger nonlinear absorption than any previously reported compounds and are promising candidates for use in broadband optical power limiters.

Earlier studies of phosphine-substituted terthiophenes have demonstrated that some of these materials exhibit nonlinear absorption at 532 nm. However, this wavelength is significantly removed from the linear absorption maxima of the complexes, suggesting that better nonlinear absorption might be observed at wavelengths closer to the linear absorption maxima. To investigate this possibility, a library of compounds has been prepared either by varying the group attached to the nonbonding pair of electrons on the phosphorus atoms of 5,5''-bis(diphenylphosphino)-2,2':5',2''-terthiophene (PT(3)P), or by introducing additional substituents on the 5''-position of 5-(diphenylphosphino)-2,2':5',2''-terthiophene (PT(3)). All these compounds have been characterized using multinuclear NMR, UV-vis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The compounds are strongly fluorescent, and both the fluorescence wavelength and the intensity depend upon the thiophene substituents. The nonlinear optical properties have also been evaluated at various wavelengths in the blue region. Each compound exhibits reverse saturable absorption, and the intensity of the reverse saturable absorption at a particular wavelength depends on the chemical structure of the compound.

Phosphine-substituted oligothiophenes are interesting third-order nonlinear materials. Both their linear and nonlinear optical properties can be altered by varying the group attached to the nonbonding pair of electrons on the phosphorus atoms, the number of phosphine groups attached to the oligothiophene and the number of repeat units in the oligothiophene. In this article, we report the syntheses, multinuclear NMR spectroscopic characterizations and X-ray crystal structures for three derivatives of 5,5 0 -bis(diphenylphosphino)-2,2 0 -bithiophene, Ph 2 (X)P(C 4 H 2 S) 2 P(X)Ph 2 (X ¼ -, 1) in which X is O (2), S (3) and CH 3 þ Á I 7 (4). The X-ray crystal structures exhibit significantly different p-p stacking, suggesting that these compounds could have significantly different nonlinear optical properties in the solid state.

The optical limiting performances of seven asymmetric pentaazadentate porphyrin-like cadmium complexes have been measured at 532 nm with nanosecond pulses. In a f/38 geometry, with sample transmission of 0.51–0.80 in a 2 mm cell, the limiting thresholds for these complexes were 1.4–3.0 mJ/cm2.The throughputs of these complexes were limited to 0.31–1.13 J/cm2 for incident fluences as high as 3.5 J/cm2. The limiting throughput was strongly influenced by the nature of the ligand. Lower bounds for the ratio of triplet excited-state to ground-state absorption cross sections have been estimated at 3.4–5.7. The lower limiting thresholds, lower limiting throughputs, as well as the ease of modification of the ligands, make these complexes promising candidates for optical power limiters.