Structures, Photoresponse Properties, and Biological Activity of Dicyano-Substituted 4-Aryl-2-pyridone Derivatives

[Image: see text] 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.