The possibility to exploit a bottom-up approach to design and synthesize multichromophoric structures from a single molecular unit is strategic for the targeted synthesis of molecular compounds with well defined linear and nonlinear absorption properties. In this view, it is important to be able to predict the properties of multichromophoric units, based on the knowledge of the properties of the individual chromophores and their mutual arrangement. To this end, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study on 4-(para-di-n-butylaminostyryl)-pyridine, a push–pull molecule, and its dimer, 4,4′-bis(para-di-n-butylaminostyryl)-2,2′-bipyridine, formed by connecting the two pyridine groups into a bipyridine structure. One photon absorption and fluorescence spectra are measured in solvents of different polarity, and two-photon absorption spectra are recorded in dichloromethane. Experimental results are compared with results of TDDFT (Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory) and CIS (Configuration Interaction with Single excitation) methods implemented in the Gaussian03 program suite. An essential-state analysis of optical spectra is used to rationalize the observed behavior.

Cyclic and polyphosphazenes are extremely interesting and versatile substrates characterized by the presence of -P=N- repeating units. The chlorine atoms on the P atoms in the starting materials can be easily substituted with a variety of organic substituents, thus giving rise to a huge number of new materials for industrial applications. Their properties can be designed considering the number of repetitive units and the nature of the substituent groups, opening up to a number of peculiar properties, including the ability to give rise to supramolecular arrangements. We focused our attention on the extensive scientific literature concerning their biomedical applications: as antimicrobial agents in drug delivery, as immunoadjuvants in tissue engineering, in innovative anticancer therapies, and treatments for cardiovascular diseases. The promising perspectives for their biomedical use rise from the opportunity to combine the benefits of the inorganic backbone and the wide variety of organic side groups that can lead to the formation of nanoparticles, polymersomes, or scaffolds for cell proliferation. In this review, some aspects of the preparation of phosphazene-based systems and their characterization, together with some of the most relevant chemical strategies to obtain biomaterials, have been described.