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Exceptionally Plastic/Elastic Organic Crystals of a Naphthalidenimine‐Boron Complex Show Flexible Optical Waveguide Properties
Author(s) -
Naim Khalid,
Singh Manjeet,
Sharma Sachin,
Nair Rajesh V.,
Venugopalan Paloth,
Chandra Sahoo Subash,
Neelakandan Prakash P.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202002641
Subject(s) - materials science , luminescence , bending , flexibility (engineering) , boron , waveguide , brittleness , multi mode optical fiber , plastic bending , composite material , photonics , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , optical fiber , optics , bending stiffness , chemistry , statistics , mathematics , organic chemistry , physics
The design of molecular compounds that exhibit flexibility is an emerging area of research. Although a fair amount of success has been achieved in the design of plastic or elastic crystals, realizing multidimensional plastic and elastic bending remains challenging. We report herein a naphthalidenimine–boron complex that showed size‐dependent dual mechanical bending behavior whereas its parent Schiff base was brittle. Detailed crystallographic and spectroscopic analysis revealed the importance of boron in imparting the interesting mechanical properties. Furthermore, the luminescence of the molecule was turned‐on subsequent to boron complexation, thereby allowing it to be explored for multimode optical waveguide applications. Our in‐depth study of the size‐dependent plastic and elastic bending of the crystals thus provides important insights in molecular engineering and could act as a platform for the development of future smart flexible materials for optoelectronic applications.