Synthesis, crystal structure and nonlinear optical properties of a cluster compound containing the bipy ligand

The [MoO_0.75S_3.25Cu₃Cl(bipy)₂] complex was synthesized for nonlinear optical studies by the reaction of (NH₄)₂[MoOS₃], CuCl and bipy in CH₂Cl₂ solution. A single crystal X-ray analysis revealed that the complex consists of a nest-shaped core. The Mo atom is tetrahedrally coordinated by four S atoms, or three S atoms and one terminal O atom. There are two types of copper atom in the MoO_0.75S_3.25Cu₃ aggregate: two copper atoms are tetrahedrally coordinated and another copper atom is trigonally coordinated. The third-order nonlinear optical properties were investigated by the Z-scan technique with 8 ns laser pulses at 532 nm. The cluster exhibits both optical self-focusing and optical nonlinear absorption (effectively n₂ = 1.3 × 10^-11 e.s.u., α₂ = 1.2 × 10^-10 m W^-1 in a 2.68 × 10^-4 mol dm^-3 CH₂Cl₂ solution).