Abstract: | A convenient method for embedding organometallic complexes in polymer films has been developed and the FT-IR spectra of these films have been investigated at room temperature. Infrared data in the n?(CO) stretching region are reported for M(CO)6 (M = Cr, Mo, W), CpMn(CO)3 (Cp = η5-C5H5), η-C6H6Cr(CO)2L [L = CO, P(n-Bu)3], (η6-C6H5NH2)Cr(CO)3, [η6-o-C6H4(NH2)MeCr(CO)3], CpFe(CO)LR [L = CO, PPh3; R = Me, C(O)Me] embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polystyrene-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-PMMA), and polystyrene–polyacrylonitrile (PS-AN) plastic films. These matrices appear to approximate the common solvents ethyl acetate, toluene, toluene–ethyl acetate, and toluene–acetonitrile, respectively, with respect to n?(CO) vibrational band behavior. Several of the films have been subjected to UV irradiation and the photoproducts formed have been identified by FT-IR spectroscopy. PS-AN effectively traps photogenerated coordinatively unsaturated species via coordination of its pendant nitrile groups. |