Supramolecular Arene-Ruthenium Metallacycle with Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline Properties

Unmasking Arene Ruthenium Building Blocks

We have, like many others, contributed to the development and to the popularity of arene ruthenium assemblies. From early on, our research was driven by applications, mainly biological (therapeutic, drug delivery, DNA interactions, photodynamic therapy, imaging). For nearly 15 years, we have focused on the use of arene ruthenium building block as a tool to construct added-value objects. In this account, we want to give the basic reasons behind our choice, and uncover our most successful examples, with an emphasis on the foreseen applications.

Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline Materials Based on Supramolecular Coordination Complexes

Liquid crystals are among us, in living organisms and in electronic devices, and they have contributed to the development of our modern society. Traditionally developed by organic chemists, the field of liquid-crystalline materials is now involving chemists and physicists of all domains (computational, physical, inorganic, supramolecular, electro-chemistry, polymers, materials, etc.,). Such diversity in researchers confirms that the field remains highly active and that new applications can be foreseen in the future. In this review, liquid-crystalline materials developed around coordination complexes are presented, focusing on those showing thermotropic behavior, a relatively unexplored family of compounds.