The Viscosity and Intermolecular Interaction of Organic and Inorganic Hybrid Systems Composed of Chiral Schiff Base Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) Complexes with Long Ligands, Azobenzene, and PMMA

We have here synthesized new chiral Schiff base Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) complexes (Ni, Cu, Zn) and hybrid materials with azobenzene (AZ) in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Linearly polarized UV light irradiation of these hybrid materials slightly increased their optical anisotropy of AZ as well as the complexes, which were measured with polarized IR and UV-Vis spectra and discussed based on TD-DFT calculations. Non-linear concentration (viscosity) dependence of PMMA solutions about artifact peaks suggested weak intermolecular interactions due to the flexibility of complexes by inserted methylene chains. Molecular modeling indicated that large spaces around complexes in PMMA resulted in easy molecular orientation (Ni > Cu > Zn) as short-term saturation of the UV light irradiation.