Described
in this work is the synthesis of a novel dicyano-substituted
N
-2-aminoethyl-4-(3-pyridinyl)-2-pyridone organic compound
(
1
) that is characterized by several spectroscopic methods.
Compound (
1
) was utilized for the preparation of its
perchlorate (
2
), chloride (
3
), and bromide
(
4
) salts. Single-crystal X-ray structures of these three
salts were determined, and noncovalent weak interactions involving
the aromatic rings, anions, and water molecules in (
2
–
4
) were investigated in detail. Solid-state
UV–vis spectrum of the reported compounds (
1
–
4
) was utilized to calculate their optical band gaps, which
clearly indicated that they belong to the semiconductor family. Under
illumination condition, the magnitudes of electrical properties of
(
1
) and its salts (
2
–
4
) improve remarkably although the improvement differs from salt to
salt and the result was analyzed theoretically. Salt (
2
) was tested for its DNA binding ability.