( E )-1-(Benzo[ d ][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-3-([2,2′-bithiophen]-5-yl)prop-2-en-1-one: crystal structure, UV–Vis analysis and theoretical studies of a new π-conjugated chalcone

In the title compound, C 18 H 12 O 3 S 2 , synthesized by the Claisen–Schmidt condensation method, the essentially planar chalcone unit adopts an s-cis configuration with respect to the carbonyl group within the ethylenic bridge. In the crystal, weak C—H...π interactions connect the molecules into zigzag chains along the b -axis direction. The molecular structure was optimized geometrically using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6–311 G++(d,p) basis set level and compared with the experimental values. Molecular orbital calculations providing electron-density plots of HOMO and LUMO molecular orbitals and molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) were also computed both with the DFT/B3LYP/6–311 G++(d,p) basis set. The experimental energy gap is 3.18 eV, whereas the theoretical HOMO–LUMO energy gap value is 2.73 eV. Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to further investigate the weak interactions present.