The effect of pressure on circular dichroism spectra of a chiral helicoidal chromium complex

The effect of pressure on circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the octahedral chiral Lambda- and Delta-tris-[cyclic O,O',1(R),2(R)dimethylethylene dithi ophosphato]chromium(III) complexes, Lambda- and Delta-CrC(R,R)bdtp](3), in the solid state has been studied. The pressure range investigated was 0-4 G Pa. A method for measuring CD spectra under pressure is described. Results on polycrystalline samples in nujol indicate that the configuration at the metal centre of the chiral chromium complex inverts from the Delta- to the Lambda-form, which eventually is the most stable at high pressure. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.