Contents 157 5.6. Solution structure 157 5.7. Electrochemical properties 158 5.8. Thermodynamic properties 159 5.9. Magnetic properties 159 5.10. Crystal-field splittings 160 5.11. Infrared spectra 161 5.12. Chirality sensing 161 5.13. Properties of hemicyanine dyes with βdiketonate counter ions 162 6. Luminescence of β-diketonate complexes 162 6.1. Photoluminescence 162 6.2. Electroluminescence 178 6.3. Triboluminescence 179 6.4. Sensitized chemiluminescence 183 7. From complexes to materials 185 7.1. Sol-gel glasses 185 7.2. Ormosils 186 7.3. β-Diketonates in polymer matrices 190 7.4. β-Diketonates in zeolites 195 7.5. Langmuir-Blodgett films (LB films) 197 7.6. Liquid crystals 200 7.7. Nonlinear optical materials 203 8. From materials to devices 205 8.1. Chelates for lasers 205 8.2. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) 206 8.3. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) 216 8.4. Polymeric optical waveguides and amplifiers 217 9. NMR shift reagents 218 9.1. Historical development and general principles 218 9.2. Achiral shift reagents 221 9.3. Chiral shift reagents 226 10. Analytical applications 227 10.1. Trace analysis of lanthanide ions 227 10.2. Trace analysis of organic and biomolecular compounds 229 10.3. Luminescent visualization of latent fingerprints 230 10.4. Chemical sensors 232 10.5. Stationary phases in gas chromatography 232 11. Applications of volatile complexes 233 11.1. Volatile β-diketonate complexes 233 11.2. Gas chromatographic separation of the rare earths 237 11.3. Preparation of thin films by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) 238 11.4. Preparation of thin films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) 241 11.5. Fuel additives 242 12. Solvent extraction 243 13. Catalytic properties 247