First molecular electronic hyperpolarizability of series of π-conjugated oxazole dyes in solution: an experimental and theoretical study

In this work, we report the experimental and theoretical first molecular electronic hyperpolarizability (β(HRS)) of eleven π-conjugated oxazoles compounds in toluene medium. The Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering (HRS) technique allowed the determination of the experimental dynamic β(HRS) values, by exciting the compounds with a picosecond pulse trains from a Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser tuned at 1064 nm. Theoretical predictions based on time-dependent density functional theory level using the Gaussian 09 program package were performed with three different functionals (B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, and M06-2X), to calculate both static and dynamic theoretical β(HRS) values. Good accordance was found between the experimental and theoretical values, in particular for the CAM-B3LYP and M06-2X functionals.