Metastable Linkage Isomerism in Ni(Et4dien)(NO2)2: A Combined Thermal and Photocrystallographic Structural Investigation of a Nitro/ Nitrito Interconversion

摘要

Photocrystallography is a rapidly developing technique that enables the full three-dimensional structure of a molecule in a metastable or excited state to be elucidated when a single crystal of the complex is photoactivated by visible or UV light.Pioneering work in the areas of both molecular and macromolecular photocrystallography has allowed the crystallographic characterization of species with microsecond and sub-microsecond lifetimes. Of equal importance are the detailed studies on the identification and stabilization of metastable species because of potential photorefractive applications, including data storage and optical switching.'61 This area has been pioneered by Coppens et al., and they, and others, have now successfully determined the structures of a number of metastable species including several transition-metal-nitrosyl, -nitro, and -SO2 complexes.