New amphiphilic diacetylene compounds for non-linear optics

Abstract New amphiphilic compounds with arylbutadiyne and hexatriyne moieties were synthesized, and their monolayer and multilayer forming abilities and photopolymerizabilities were investigated. Some phenylbutadiynyl derivatives could be deposited as multilayers and polymerized by UV irradiation. In the course of polymerization, however, photochemical deterioration occurred simultaneously, resulting in the formation of polymers with shorter absorption edges than those of usual polydiacetylenes. In contrast, the hexatriyne derivative gave a polydiacetylene with a longer wavelength absorption edge. Non-linear optical susceptibilities of those polymers were evaluated from the third harmonic generation.