Syntheses, Experimental and Theoretical Studies on Absorption/Emission Properties of Pyrazoline-Containing Aryl/Methoxynaphthyl Substituents

5-Aryl-3-(2-methoxynaphthalen-6-yl)-1-phenylpyrazoline derivatives were synthesized starting from (E)-1-(3-aryl)-(2-methoxynaphthalen-6-yl)-prop-2-en-1-one and phenylhydrazine. The compounds were characterized by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), elemental analyses and mass spectrometry. Some compounds showed promising luminescence properties in solution and in solid state; the absorption and emission characteristics were measured and the fluorescence quantum yield of two of the derivatives [4,5-dihydro-3-(2-methoxynaphthalen-6-yl)-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-1 H -pyrazoline and 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,5-dihydro-3-(2-methoxynaphthalen-6-yl)-1-phenyl-1 H -pyrazoline] were found to have excellent values compared to rhodamine B standard. Theoretical calculations at time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) level are in agreement with the experimental measurements and are helpful to explain the electronic behavior.