Carbazole-based dyes containing aldehyde and cyanoacetic acid groups were synthesized through Sonogashira coupling and Knoevenagel reactions. These compounds included 6-((4-(diphenylamino)9-ethyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)acrylic acid (TCN). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed these structures to be coplanar-conjugated molecular and uniform in shape. The UV spectra showed three main absorption peaks from 240 nm to 400 nm, indicating p-p* and n-p* electron transitions. The calculated vertical singlet excitation energy was within the range of n-p*. This finding was confirmed based on the acceptor results in reduced highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap by launching cyanoacetic acid. These functional compounds could be used as dyes/photosensitizers.

Four novel dyes containing alkynylcarbazole, namely, 2-((9H-carbazol-3-yl)ethynyl)-9-ethyl-9H-carbazole, 3,6-bis((9-ethyl-9H-carbazol-2-yl)ethynyl)-9H-carbazole, 3-(phenylethynyl)-9H-carbazole and 3,6-bis(phenylethynyl)-9H-carbazole, were synthesized on the basis of single and double substitutes by following the Sonogashira coupling method. The synthesized dyes were then assessed as novel photosensitizers in visible-light photopolymerization to evaluate the effects of conjugation on the properties of aromatic compounds. A comparison between UV-vis and TD/DFT electron transition spectra shows that λ max in theoretical ultraviolet spectra matched well with the experimental spectra; every conjugated alkynylcarbazole dye exhibits a wide absorption band in the range of 300-400 mm. Moreover, conjugation enhancement by switching carbazoleacetylene moieties caused a red shift in the absorption bands. The theoretical study showed that the maxima λ of these molecules ranged from ∼330 to 370 mm, corresponding to π →π * and n→π * electron transitions. Fluorescence spectroscopic data show that the strongest emission peaks exhibit a red shift because of the addition of conjugated acetylene groups. A combination of alkynyl dyes and iodonium under a halogen lamp atmosphere by visible-light photopolymerization displayed a positive response to the cationic polymerization of bisphenol-A epoxy resin A and free-radical polymerization of tripropylene glycol diacrylate.