TRANSITION-METALS IN HIGHLY CORRELATED DISCOTIC PHASES - DESIGNING METALLOMESOGENS WITH SELECTED INTERMOLECULAR ORGANIZATIONS

The diketonate Schiff-base complexes shown were investigated, and the square-planar derivatives (M = Ni, Cu, Pd) were found to display disco tic hexagonal disordered phases (D(hd)). These complexes cannot exhibi t a disc-shape independently, and in the mesophase they must organize into a superstructure which on time average leads to antiparallel alig nment of nearest neighbors. These discotic antiphases exhibit a number of important properties including low melting points, low viscosity, and close intermolecular contacts of 3.6 angstrom.