Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.110, No.22, 10672-10682, 2006
Acidoswitchable NLO-phores: benzimidazolo[2,3-b] oxazolidines
This paper presents a series of acidoswitchable NLO-phores combining the 9-methylbenzimidazolo[2,3-b]oxazolidine core with various pi systems such as phenylethenyl, phenylethynyl, and naphthylethenyl. All the prepared derivatives are shown to display acidochromic behavior at ambient temperature. The remarkable contrast in the NLO response along the reversible transformations observed in HRS experiments is rationalized by high level theoretical calculations.