Isotope Effect on SHG Response and Ferroelectric Properties of a Homochiral Zinc Coordination Compound Containing Tetrazole Ligand

Hydrothermal treatment of a solution of water or deuterium oxide containing N-4-cyanobenzylcinchonidine bromide (CBCBr), NaN3, and Zn(NO3)2·6H2O at 105 °C gave the respective in situ [2 + 3] cycloaddition products (TBC-N4)2Zn(N3)4(X2O) (1, X = H; 2, X = D; CBC-N4 = N-4-tetrazoylbenzylcinchonidine). A study of the SHG, ferroelectric, and permittivity properties of these novel metal-coordination compounds (MCCs) revealed huge deuterated effects (DEF) on SHG (5-fold increase), ferroelectric activity (31% increase), and dielectric behavior (up to 830% increase) upon deuterium substitution from 1 to 2. As expected, the dielectric constants in both dehydrated 1 and dedeuterated 2 are comparable and the DEF is observed to disappear with increasing temperature.