Theoretical study of the two-photon absorption properties of octupolar complexes with Cu(I), Zn(II) and Al(III) as centers and bis-cinnamaldimine as ligands

The equilibrium geometries, electronic structures, one- and two-photon absorption (TPA) properties of a series of octupolar complexes with the Cu(I), Zn(II) and Al(III) as coordinate centers and the bis-cinnamaldimine as ligands have been studied using the B3LYP/6-31G(d) and ZINDO-SOS methods. Compared with the dipolar metal complexes, all the octupolar metal complexes (including tetrahedral and octahedral complexes) have relatively large TPA cross-sections, indicating that building octupolar metal complex is an effective route to design of promising TPA material. Lewis acidity of metal center and molecular symmetry are two important factors for enhancement of TPA cross-section of metal complex. Due to the stronger Lewis acidity of Zn(II) than Cu(I) as well as Al(III) than Zn(II), the tetrahedral Zn(II) complex exhibits a TPA cross-section larger than that of the tetrahedral Cu(I) complex, the maximum TPA position of the octahedral Al(III) complex is red-shifted relative to the octahedral Zn(II) complex, and at the same time, the octahedral Al(III) complex has a large TPA cross-section. Compared with the tetrahedral complexes, the TPA cross-sections of the octahedral complexes are enhanced due to the increased number of ligands.