Conformational diastereoisomers of PPh3 coordinated to stereogenic metal centres as molecular optical switches

The specific rotation of (RFe,R,M)-4 switches sign upon epimerisation to (RFe,S,P)-5. X-Ray crystallographic studies suggest that inversion of the propeller configuration of the coordinated PPh3 ligand is the major contributor to the switch of specific rotation. A simple model for predicting the conformational diastereoisomeric forms PPh3 is presented, suggesting future routes towards the design of molecular optical switching devices. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved