Herein,
halo-functionalized hydrazone derivatives “2-[(6′-chloroazin-2′-yl)oxy]-
N
′-(2-fluorobenzylidene) aceto-hydrazone (
CPFH
), 2-[(6′-chloroazin-2′-yl)oxy]-
N
′-(2-chlorobenzylidene)
aceto-hydrazones (
CCPH
), 2-[(6′-chloroazin-2′-yl)oxy]-
N
′-(2-bromobenzylidene) aceto-hydrazones (
BCPH
)” were synthesized and structurally characterized using FTIR,
1
H-NMR,
13
C-NMR, and UV–vis spectroscopic
techniques. Computational studies using density functional theory
(DFT) and time dependent DFT at CAM-B3LYP/6-311G (d,p) level of theory
were performed for comparison with spectroscopic data (FT-IR, UV–vis)
and for elucidation of the structural parameters, natural bond orbitals
(NBOs), natural population analysis, frontier molecular orbital (FMO)
analysis and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of hydrazones derivatives
(
CPFH
,
CCPH
, and
BCPH
). Consequently,
an excellent complement between the experimental data and the DFT-based
results was achieved. The NBO analysis confirmed that the presence
of hyper conjugative interactions was pivotal cause for stability
of the investigated compounds. The energy gaps in
CPFH
,
CCPH
, and
BCPH
were found as 7.278, 7.241,
and 7.229 eV, respectively. Furthermore, global reactivity descriptors
were calculated using the FMO energies in which global hardness revealed
that
CPFH
was more stable and less reactive as compared
to
BCPH
and
CCPH
. NLO findings disclosed
that
CPFH
,
CCPH
, and
BCPH
have
superior properties as compared to the prototype standard compound,
which unveiled their potential applications for optoelectronic technology.