Phase modulation and ellipticity of the light transmitted through a smectic C* layer with short helix pitch

A chiral ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystal (FLC) with the helix pitch p ₀?=?330 nm was developed to avoid any scattering of visible light when the helix is not unwound over a certain limit. Planar cells with different FLC layer thickness (16 and 44 μm) have been assembled with helix axis parallel to the glass plates and aligned along the rubbing direction. The ellipticity of the light passing through the cells vs. the electric field was investigated, and a method for evaluating the electrically controlled birefringence via ellipticity measurements has been established. We have found that the FLC cell is an optical retardation layer driven by the electric field, the effective birefringence being proportional to the square electric field. The physical origin of the electrically controlled phase shift of the light passing through the FLC layer has been analysed.     

Polydentate phosphinoamine ligands: a class of efficient chelating agents for the stabilization of various technetium(V) and rhenium(V) cores

Transition Metal Chemistry -     

New approach to the chemistry of technetium(V) and rhenium(V) phenylimido complexes: novel [M(NPh)PNP]3+ metal fragments (M = Tc, Re; PNP = aminodiphosphine) suitable for the synthesis of stable mixed-ligand compounds

Ligand-exchange reactions of the aminodiphosphine ligand bis[(2-diphenylphosphino)ethyl]amine hydrochloride (PNHP x HCl) with labile M(NPh)Cl3(PPh3)2 precursors (M = Re, Tc) in the presence of triethylamine yield monocationic phenylimido mer,cis-[M(NPh)Cl2(PNHP)]Cl (M = Re, 1; Tc, 2) intermediate complexes. X-ray analyses show that in both compounds the aminodiphosphine acts as a tridentate ligand dictating a mer,cis arrangement. Two chloride ligands, respectively in an equatorial and in the axial position trans to the linear M-NPh moiety, fill the remaining positions in a distorted-octahedral geometry. The chloride trans to the metal-imido core is labile, and is replaced by an alcoholate group, without affecting the original geometry, as established in mer,cis-[Re(NPh)(OEt)Cl(PNHP)]Cl 4. Otherwise, ligand-exchange reactions involving the aminodiphosphine bis[(2-diphenylphosphino)ethyl]methylamine (PNMeP), in which the central secondary amine has been replaced by a tertiary amine function, or its hydrochloride salt (PNMeP x HCl) give rise to three different species, depending on the experimental conditions: fac,cis-[Re(NPh)Cl2(PNMeP)]Cl 3a, cis,fac-Re(NPh)Cl3(PNMeP) x HCl 3b, and mer,trans-[Re(NPh)Cl2(PNMeP)]Cl 3c, which are characterized in solution by multinuclear NMR studies. The monodentate groups incorporated in these intermediate compounds, either halides and/or ethoxide, undergo substitution reactions with bidentate donor ligands such as catechol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-aminophenol to afford stable mixed ligand complexes of the type [M(NPh)(O,O-cat)(PNP)]Cl [PNP = PNHP M = Re 5, Tc 6; PNP = PNMeP M = Re 7], [Re(NPh)(O,O-gly)(PNP)]Cl [PNP = PNHP 8, PNMeP 9] and [Re(NPh)(O,N-ap)(PNMeP)]Cl 10. X-ray diffraction analyses of the representative compounds 5 and 8 reveal that the aminodiphosphine switches from the meridional to the facial coordination mode placing the heteroatom of the diphosphine trans to the phenylimido unit and the bidentate ligand in the equatorial plane. Solution-state NMR studies suggest an analogous geometry for 6, 7, 9, and 10. Comparison with similar mixed ligand complexes including the terminal nitrido group is discussed.     

Syntheses and reactivity of 'sulfur rich' Re(iii) and Tc(iii) complexes containing trithioperoxybenzoate, dithiobenzoate and dithiocarbamate ligands

Reduction-substitution reactions of [M(O)Cl(4)](-)(M=Re, (99)Tc) precursors with an excess of substituted dithiobenzoate ligands (R-PhCS(2))(-) in dichloromethane/methanol mixtures afford a series of six-coordinated neutral mixed-ligand complexes of the type M(III)(R-PhCS(3))(2)(R-PhCS(2))(M=Re; Rel--9; M=99)Tc; Tel--9). The coordination sphere is entirely filled by sulfur donor atoms, and the complexes adopt a distorted trigonal prismatic arrangement, as assessed by the X-ray crystal structure analysis of Re(4-Me-PhCS(3))(2)(4-Me-PhCS(2)), Re 2. These compounds show sharp proton and carbon NMR profiles, in agreement with the diamagnetism typical of low spin d(4) trigonal prismatic configurations. The red-ox processes involve reduction of the metal from Re(v) to Re(iii) and oxidation of dithiobenzoate to trithioperoxybenzoate. M2--9 complexes contain a substitution-inert [M(R-PhCS(3))(2)](+) moiety including the metal and two trithioperoxybenzoate fragments, while the third dithiobenzoate ligand is labile. The latter is efficiently replaced by reaction with better nucleophiles such as diethyldithiocarbamate giving a further class of mixed ligand complexes of the type M(III)(R-PhCS(3))(2)(Et(2)NCS(2))(M=Re; Re 10--18; M=(99)Tc; Tc--18), which retain the trigonal prismatic arrangement, as determined by the X-ray analyses of the representative compounds Re(PhCS(3))(2)(Et(2)NCS(2)), Re 10 and (99)Tc(PhCS(3))(2)(Et(2)NCS(2)), Tc 10.     

Voltammetric behaviour of rhenium(I) complexes with phosphine and carbon monoxide ligands in acetonitrile solvent

Summary The anodic and cathodic behaviour of the complexesmer-[ReCl(CO)₃(PMe₂Ph)₂],fac[ReCl(CO)₃(PMe₂Ph)₂],mer-[ReCl(CO)₃(PPh₃)₂], and [ReCl(CO)₂(PMe₂Ph)₃] in acetonitrile solvent were studied using platinum and mercury electrodes. Cyclic voltammetry and controlled potential coulometry were the main electroanalytical techniques employed. The nature of the electrolysis products and of the electrode oxidation and reduction processes were investigated. In particular, [ReCl(CO)(MeCN)₂(PMe₂Ph)₃][ClO₄]₂, [ReCl₃(CO)₂(PMe₂Ph)₂], and a not completely defined rhenium(-I) complex were electrochemically synthesized and characterized by means of i.r. and¹H n.m.r. spectroscopy, and by elemental analysis.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel trigonal bipyramidal technetium(III) mixed-ligand complexes with SES/S/P coordination (E = O, N(CH3), S)

Five-coordinate oxotechnetium(V) mixed-ligand complexes [TcO(SES)(S-p-C6H4-OMe)], where SES is a tridentate dithiolato fragment of the type -S(CH2)2E(CH2)2S- (E = O, 1; E = S, 2; E = NMe, 3) are converted via reduction-substitution reactions in the presence of PMe2Ph into the corresponding five-coordinate Tc(III) complexes [Tc(SES)(S-p-C6H4-OMe)(PMe2Ph)] (E = O, 4; E = S, 5; E = NMe, 6). Rearrangement of the original square pyramidal "3 + 1" oxo species to the trigonal bipyramidal "3 + 1 + 1" Tc(III) complexes occurs by placing the three thiolate donors on the basal plane, the phosphine phosphorus, and the heteroatom of the tridentate ligand at the apexes of the bipyramid. These Tc(III) complexes are diamagnetic species, thereby allowing multinuclear NMR characterization in solution, which confirm their structures to be identical to those observed in the solid state via X-ray determinations.