Nonlinear optical and ferroelectric materials based on 1-benzyl-2-phenyl-1H-benzimidazole saltsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthesis, elemental analysis, m.p., IR, XRD, Tables, photoluminescent figures, crystallographic data in CIF and additional figures of salts 1–3. CCDC reference numbers 795443–795445. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c1ce05860f

A series of benzimidazole-based salts, obtained through the reaction of 1-benzyl-2-phenyl-1H-benzimidazole and inorganic acid, crystallize in the chiral P1 space group, which exhibit moderate second harmonic generation (SHG) responses and ferroelectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]