Exploring the optoelectronic properties of a chromene-appended pyrimidone derivative for photovoltaic applications

Abstract

AbstractIn the present study, a chromene-appended pyrimidone derivative (PBA) has been synthesized in order to account for the relationship between chemical structure and charge transport properties. The optical properties of PBA were studied in different solvents; it displays a weak emission profile in polar protic solvents but is highly emissive in polar aprotic solvents. Quantum chemical approaches on this molecule were performed in detail to highlight the importance of and to better understand the structural and electronic effects of introducing substituted pyrimidone rings in a polyaromatic molecule to support the development of new optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. We shed light on the frontier molecular orbital, electron injection, electronic coupling constant, light harvesting efficiency, and photophysical properties of PBA by using density functional theory and time domain density functional theory. The absorption spectra (λa) and fluorescence emission spectra (λf) were computed in different solvents (Methanol, Ethanol, Butanol, Hexane, Chloroform and DMF) at the TD-B3LYP/6-31G** and TD-PBE/6-31G** levels of theory, and it was determined that the TD-B3LYP/6-31G** level is more accurate in the reproduction of experimental λa and λf in various solvents. Furthermore, no significant effect was observed on the λa and λf by changing the solvent polarity.