Photophysical Properties of Tolan Wavelength Shifters in Solution and Embedded in Polymeric Organic Thin Films

Linear organic conjugated molecules, peripherally equipped with electron-donating and electron-accepting moieties, are recognized as one of the most promising classes of nonlinear optical materials for potential application in energy conversion devices, organic electronics, optical communication, information storage, and nuclear medicine techniques. In this work, we have synthesized and photophysically characterized a series of organic molecules constituted by a 1,2-diphenyl acetylene core (tolan) bearing electronically active groups directly linked to the pi-conjugated backbone. Tuning of the absorption and emission energies has been achieved via the push-pull effect. All investigated compounds displayed very high luminescence in condensed media from intramolecular charge transfer excited states with large Stokes shifts. These features revealed to be of particular interest for the engineering of new wavelength shifters for spectral conversion of deep ultraviolet to visible light.