Intramolecular energy-transfer results in sensitized ring closing of a pendant dithienylethene from a platinum terpyridyl complex only when the two components are connected with a short pi-conjugated linker.

The axially chiral dopants (R)-5,5'-, 5,6'-, and 6,6'-diheptyloxy-2,2'-spirobiindan-1,1'-dione ((R)-2, -3, and -4) were synthesized in optically pure form, and their absolute configurations were assigned by the exciton chirality method using circular dichroism spectroscopy. These new compounds were doped in four achiral liquid crystal hosts to give chiral smectic C* (SmC*) phases with spontaneous polarizations (Ps) that vary with the core structure of the host. The spontaneous polarization induced by the 5,5'-dialkoxy derivative (R)-2 is uniformly positive, whereas that induced by the 6,6'-dialkoxy derivative (R)-4 is uniformly negative and shows a different trend in host dependence. Polarization power (delta(p)) values range from +21 nC/cm2 for (R)-2 in 2',3'-difluoro-4-heptyl-4' '-nonyl-p-terphenyl (DFT) to -1037 nC/cm2 for (R)-4 in 4-(4'-heptyl[1,1'-biphen]-4-yl)-1-hexylcyclohexanecarbonitrile (NCB76). The unsymmetrical dopant (R)-3 behaves like a hybrid of the two symmetrical isomers, with lower absolute values of delta(p), on average, and varying signs of Ps. 2H NMR spectra of the doped mixtures using racemic mixtures of 2-4 with -OCD2C6H13 side-chains, in combination with phase diagrams, show that relatively minor changes in the dopant structure, that is, moving the alkoxy side-chains from the 5,5' to the 6,6' positions of the spirobiindandione core, have profound effects on dopant-host compatibility, and on the propensity of the dopant to exert chiral perturbations in the host environment. The variations in sign and magnitude of delta(p) as a function of alkoxy group positions are rationalized based on an analysis of zigzag conformations that conform to the binding site of the SmC host according to the Boulder model.

The photophysical behavior for two photochromic Pt-terpyridine acetylide complexes containing pendant dithienylethenes (DTEs) bound to the metal through the alkynyl linkage is presented. Selective excitation of the Pt complex with visible light resulted in the metal-sensitized ring closing of the DTE unit. The central purpose of this study was to understand how excited state interactions govern the photophysics by correlating differences in the linkage of the two components with differences in the intramolecular energy transfer processes that occur between the Pt complex and the DTE. A series of model complexes without photochromic ligands were prepared and studied to elucidate the contributions of the triplet metal-to-ligand charge transfer and triplet intraligand states. It is demonstrated that reducing the orbital overlap of the metal-based and intraligand states by lengthening the linkage and eliminating a conjugated pathway is effective at dramatically decreasing the efficiency of intramolecular energy transfer. This is evidenced by the appearance of Pt-terpyridine based phosphorescence and a significant decrease in the observed rate of metal-sensitized ring closing of the DTE.