Solvatochromy and symmetry breaking in two quadrupolar oligophenylenevinylenes.

Electrooptical absorption measurements (EOAM), solvatochromic dependences and quantum chemical simulations testify to large dipole moments change of two quadrupolar oligophenylenevinylenes upon transition to Franck-Condon excited state μeFC. The values of the dipole moments μg and μeFC are in the range [(4.2 - 4.9)1030] C m and (30.8 - 47.0)1030C m, respectively. The relations of dipole moments in the ground and excited states determined by EOAM correlate well with results obtained via the solvatochromic method. Calculations carried out by density functional theory (DFT) show that optimized configuration of the ground state of these molecules is not planar. The results from all methods applied unequivocally show the structural symmetry breaking in the studied compounds.