Synthesis of nicotinonitrile derivatives as a new class of NLO materials

4,6-Diaryl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)-nicotinonitriles and 3-amino-2,4-dicyano-5-aryl-biphenyls were synthesized from 1,3-diaryl-prop-2-en-1-ones and malononitrile by a convenient one-pot method. Likewise, the reaction of aromatic aldehydes with malononitrile afforded 6-amino-4-aryl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)-pyridine-3,5-dicarbonitriles . The reaction of mesityl oxide with malononitrile gave 5-amino-7-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)-2,4,4-trimethyl-1,4-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridine-8-carbonitrile . The NLO studies of the pyridinedinitrile derivatives showed a high value while that of nicotinonitrile was weak.