Correlated electron systems can undergo ultrafast photoinduced phase transitions involving concerted transformations of electronic and lattice structure. Understanding these phenomena requires identifying the key structural modes that couple to the electronic states. We report the ultrafast photoresponse of the molecular crystal Me4P[Pt(dmit)2]2, which exhibits a photoinduced charge transfer similar to transitions between thermally accessible states, and demonstrate how femtosecond electron diffraction can be applied to directly observe the associated molecular motions. Even for such a complex system, the key large-amplitude modes can be identified by eye and involve a dimer expansion and a librational mode. The dynamics are consistent with the time-resolved optical study, revealing how the electronic, molecular, and lattice structures together facilitate ultrafast switching of the state.

Various preparations of the neutral radical [CpNi(dddt)] complex (dddt ) 5,6-dihydro-1,4-dithiin-2,3-dithiolate) were investigated with CpNi sources, [

The dinuclear Cp*Co dithiolene complex [Cp*Co(btt)CoCp*] ( 1) is prepared in high yield from the reaction of the bis(dibutyltin) complex of 1,2,4,5-benzenetetrathiolate (btt) with 2 equiv of [Cp*Co(CO)I 2]. Mononuclear complexes are also obtained from 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(isopropylthio)benzene ( 2) and sodium in pyridine, from benzo[1,2- d;4,5- d ']bis(1,3-dithiolane-2,6-dione) ( 3) and ( t )BuOK in tetrahydrofuran, or from benzo[ d]-1,3-dithiolane-2-one ( 7) and ( t )BuOK to afford respectively 4a, 4b, and [Cp*Co(bdt)] ( 6), while [Cp*Co(dmit)] ( 8) is obtained by literature methods. The X-ray structures of the dinuclear complex 1 and the mononuclear complexes 4a and 6 were determined. They are all characterized by Cp* . . . btt face-to-face intermolecular interactions, leading to a recurrent 4-fold symmetry motif. The cyclic voltammograms of the [Cp*Co(dithiolene)] complexes performed in CH 2Cl 2 show reversible Co (III) to Co (II) reduction but irreversible oxidation waves. The large potential difference between the two reduction waves of the bimetallic complex 1 (269 mV) indicates a stable mixed-valence Co (III)-Co (II) state for the reduced [Cp*Co(btt)CoCp*] (-) anion. Upon trimethyl phosphite addition, the mono-P(OMe) 3 adduct [ 1.P(OMe) 3] exhibits a red shift of the low-energy absorption band to the IR region (856 nm, = 13 000 M (-1).cm (-1)), while [ 8.P(OMe) 3] exhibits a 150 nm blue shift. The stability constants of these P(OMe) 3 adducts were determined from UV-vis spectroscopic titration experiments, with, for example, log( K/mol (-1).dm (3)) values of 3.1 and 0.52 for the mono- and bis-adduct of 1, respectively. The electrochemical investigation of 1 and 8 in excess phosphite shows a strong current enhancement upon oxidation, attributable to the catalytic generation of the radical cation P(OMe) 3 (*+).