Grafting Poly(4‐vinylpyridine) with a Second‐Order Nonlinear Optically Active Nickel( II ) Chromophore

Metal‐containing polymers are obtained by grafting commercial poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (average molecular weight 60000 or 160000) with a NiII chromophore complex. The metal‐containing chromophore was obtained from a tridentate benzoylhydrazine ligand. Chromophore fragments were grafted onto the polymer by formation of a coordinative bond between the metal and the pyridinic nitrogen. Two acentric mononuclear NiII complexes containing pyridine as an additional ligand, in a square‐planar or in an octahedral environment, have been prepared and characterised also by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis. The chemical and thermal properties of the model complexes and of the grafted polymers were examined and compared with those of CuII‐ and PdII‐based ones, in particular with reference to their NLO properties. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)