Second and third order hyperpolarizabilities of organic molecules

We have used the technique of static field induced second harmonic generation in liquids to determine the second order hyperpolarizability β, and the third order hyperpolarizability γ, for a wide range of conjugated and nonconjugated organic molecules. The adequacy of the Onsager local field formulation was tested as was the accuracy of the bond additivity approximation. The large π‐electron nonlinearities which are possible in substituted benzene molecules were investigated by measuring a large number of benzene derivatives and subtracting out the σ‐electron contributions.