Chalcone Derivatives for Optoelectronic Materials: A Mini Review

Chalcone derivatives have attracted increasing interest due to their versatile structural features and adjustable electronic properties, making them valuable scaffolds in both medicinal and materials chemistry. This class of compounds forms the central core of important biological molecules due to the presence of an α, β-unsaturated carbonyl system in their structures. Such a structural feature allows electrons to be delocalized within the molecule, giving chalcone derivatives tunable optical and electronic properties. While chalcones are widely known for their diverse biological activities, increasing attention has recently been directed toward their applications in materials science, particularly in optoelectronic technologies. This review summarizes recent developments in the non-biological applications of chalcone derivatives. Brief information on the classical synthesis of chalcones, particularly the Claisen–Schmidt condensation, is also presented. Particular emphasis is placed on the optoelectronic potential of chalcone-based systems for applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), photodiodes (PDs), dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), and nonlinear optical materials (NLOs).