On the Way towards New Materials: Metal Complexes as Building Blocks

Two related directions of materials research are described: i) The synthesis of photonic materials, based on transition-metal compounds mainly with ruthenium and osmium as the photoactive centers. The devices envisaged are antenna molecules, molecular wires, photon-activated switches, and molecules performing other logical functions. ii) The development of a strategy for the synthesis of complex coordination species suitable for molecular devices, based on modular synthons, where a special emphasis is put on the stereochemical aspect of the fragments employed. This strategy is based on a new family of chiral pyridine and bipyridine ligands that are useful for the construction of inert building blocks, as well as in self-assembly processes leading to highly organized systems.