Abstract A series of newly synthesized potent bioactive 2-pyrrolyl styryl ketone derivatives were characterized by spectral techniques. The effect of substituent on the absorption maximum, IR stretching frequencies and NMR chemical shifts were investigated. DFT calculations were made to calculate HOMO–LUMO energies and natural bond orbital analysis [NBO]. The electric dipole moment (μ) and the hyperpolarisability (β) of the ...