In the present investigation, quantum chemical calculations have
been performed in a systematic way to explore the optoelectronic,
charge transfer, and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of different
bis(dicyanomethylene) end-functionalized quinoidal oligothiophenes.
The effect of different conformations (linking modes of thiophene
rings) on conformational, optoelectronic, and NLO properties are studied
from the best-performed dimer to octamer. The optical and NLO properties
of all the selected systems (1–7) are calculated
by means of density functional theory (DFT) methods. Among all the
designed compounds, the largest linear isotropic (αiso) polarizability value of 603.1 × 10–24 esu
is shown by compound 7 which is ∼12, ∼16,
∼9, ∼11, ∼10, and ∼4 times larger as compared
to compounds 1–6, respectively. A relative investigation
is performed considering the expansion in third-order NLO polarizability
as a function of size and conformational modes. Among all the investigated
systems, system 7 shows the highest value of static second
hyperpolarizability ⟨γ⟩ with an amplitude of 7607
× 10–36 esu at the M06/6-311G** level of theory,
which is ∼521, ∼505, ∼38, ∼884, ∼185,
and ∼15 times more than that of compounds 1–6, respectively. The extensively larger ⟨γ⟩ amplitude
of compound 7 with higher oscillator strength and lower
transition energy indicates that NLO properties are remarkably dependent
upon linking modes of thiophene rings and its chain length. Furthermore,
to trace the origin of higher nonlinearities, TD-DFT calculations
are also performed at the same TD-M06/6-311G** level of theory. Additionally,
a comprehensive understanding of the effect of structure/property
relationship on the NLO polarizabilities of these investigated quinoidal
oligothiophenes is obtained through the inspection of Frontier molecular
orbitals, the density of states (TDOS and PDOS), and molecular electrostatic
potential diagrams including the transition density matrix. Hence,
the current examination will not just feature the NLO capability of
entitled compounds yet additionally incite the interest of experimentalists
to adequately modify the structure of these oligothiophenes for efficient
optical and NLO applications.