One important driving force in nanotechnology today is the change which can be made in the properties of a material when the dimensions of its individual building blocks are decreased below approximately 100 nm. Such small building blocks, typically nanoparticles, may induce new and unique properties compared to those of the corresponding bulk material. The challenge in nanotechnology is to make nanoparticles with a discrete particle size within the range 1-10 nm. It is also important to develop appropriate assembly methodologies in order to construct devices composed of such small building blocks. This thesis reports iron nanoparticle synthesis using laser-assisted photolysis of ferrocene. The particles were protected against oxidation by a carbon shell formed in situ during their growth. By varying the experimental conditions such as fluence, repetition rate and laser beam area, particles could be synthesized in the size range 1 to 100 nm. Their size was measured using a differential mobility analyser (DMA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). DMA was also used successfully to size-select particles to facilitate the deposition of monodisperse nanoparticle films. A theoretical "residence time approach (RTA)" model was developed to relate particle volume to the laser parameters used. The growth of these particles was studied in situ using optical emission spectroscopy; the results were compared with those from quantum mechanical calculations. The particles were characterised ex situ by TEM, convergent beam electron diffraction, XRD, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Results from the TEM investigations revealed that the carbon shell was graphitic close to the iron core, while the outer part of the carbon shell was amorphous, indicating different growth mechanisms. Both bcc and fcc iron particles were observed.

A large variety of diferrocenyl compounds bridged by an organic wire fragment in a generic form of -CH=CH-X-CH=CH- were first synthesized, in which the X unit is a functional group/atom. These compounds were studied by structural analysis, electrochemistry, intervalence NIR absorption and other spectroscopic techniques. The results indicated that metal-ligand redox matching is most essential in facilitating long-range electron transfer in the mixed-valence complexes. A series of doubly-bridged diferrocenyl compounds and wire-linked triferrocenes were also synthesized and studied. All doubly-bridged diferrocenyl compounds demonstrated nearly doubled electronic coupling in comparison to their singly-bridged analogues. Thus the use of parallel wires in such systems represents a facile approach to improve communication in molecular electronics. For triferrocenes linked by symmetric wires, the electronic interaction between the redox-active centers was rather dynamic when the bridging component was short or the charge was delocalized among the ligand and metal centers. For triferrocenes bridged by asymmetric wires, depending on the direction of the polar linking chain, the central ferrocene becomes a molecular switch, turning on or off the communication between the two end ferrocenes. Finally, to eliminate the metal-ligand orbital mixing problem, we also bound the wires with two redox-active styrylpyrrole termini, for which the molecules are purely organic. It was found that when the ð-conjugation was maintained, the oligomers were fully delocalized systems.

Quinolines have been studied for over a century as an important class of heterocyclic compounds and continue to attract considerable interest due to the broad range of biological activities they possess. The incorporation of the essential structural features of quinolines with a ferrocene moiety could provide new derivatives with unexpected and/or enhanced biological activities since several ferrocene derivatives have already been shown to be active against a number of tumors. For this reason, we investigated the synthesis of ferrocenyl-substituted quinolines, such as 2-ferrocenylquinoline, by employing the molecular iodine catalyzed reaction between enolizable aldehydes and ferrocenyl imines, which were prepared by the condensation reactions of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde with aniline derivatives. As anticipated, these reactions produced 2-ferrocenylquinoline derivatives. By employing this ethodology, we synthesized 2-ferrocenylquinoline, 6-chloro-2-ferrocenylquinoline, 6-bromo-2-ferrocenyl-quinoline, 2-ferrocenyl-7-methylquinoline and 2-ferrocenyl-3,7-dimethylquinoline. Due to the ready availability of ferrocenylimines and aldehydes, this practical onepot method represents a versatile synthesis of ferrocenyl-substituted quinolines.

Pyrazoles constitute one of the most important classes of heterocyclic compounds due to their interesting chemical and biochemical features. Researchers have studied many pyrazole containing structures for almost over a century in order to investigate the various biological activities possessed by these molecules. A new and important trend in these studies is to produce ferrocenyl substituted pyrazoles since ferrocene attracts considerable interest in the research field of organometallic and bioorganometallic chemistry because of its valuable chemical characteristics like high stability, low toxicity and enhanced redox properties. Moreover, the results of the studies focusing on ferrocenyl compounds have been quite promising. Therefore, the scope of this project involves the combination of the essential structural features of pyrazoles with a ferrocene moiety, which could provide new derivatives with enhanced biological activities. In the course of the project the synthesis of new pyrazole derivatives was performed through Sonogashira and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of 5-ferrocenyl-4-iodo-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole with terminal alkynes and boronic acids respectively in the presence of a catalytic amount of PdCl2(PPh3)2. Although Sonogashira and Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions are well known in literature, they were not studied in much detail with multi-substituted pyrazoles. This also revealed the requirement of the reinvestigation of the reactions and improvement of the yields of pyrazoles by optimizing the reaction conditions.

5,8-Bis(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-2-(naphthalen-2-yl)-3-ferrocenyl-4a,8a-dihydroquinoxaline (DEFNQ), 5,8-bis(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-2-(phenyl)-3 ferrocenylquinoxaline (DEFPQ) and 5,8-bis(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-2,3-di(naphthalen-2-yl)quinoxaline (DEDNQ) were synthesized, electrochemically polymerized and electrochromic properties of resultant polymers were investigated. For the characterization of the monomers Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR) were used. Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Ultraviolet&ndash / Visible Spectroscopy were used to investigate electrochemical behavior of the monomers and redox reactions of conducting polymers. After electrochemical polymerizations, the electrochromic properties of the conducting polymers were investigated via spectroelectrochemistry, kinetic and colorimetry studies to explore the one of most important property of conducting polymers, the ability to switch reversibly between the two states of different optical properties, &lsquo / electrochromism&rsquo / . Cyclic Voltammetry and Spectroelectrochemistry studies for PDEFNQ, PDEFPQ and PDEDNQ showed that ferrocenyl (Fc) group containing derivatives are multichromic green to transmissive polymer with high tendency to be both p and n doped. PDEDNQ which was not functionalized with ferrocenyl group does not show multichromism. According to the electrochemical and spectroscopic results each polymer is a potential candidate for optoelectronic applications.

Synthesis of five-membered heteroaromatic compounds such as pyrazoles, isoxazoles and 1,2,4-oxadiazoles are important for pharmaceutical industry and material science due to their applications. Although there are many methods to prepare such compounds, new variants continue to appear since they exhibit a wide range of biological and medicinal activities. In this thesis, new methods were developed for the synthesis of 4-iodopyrazoles, pyrazoles, isoxazoles, 1,2,4-oxadiazoles and/or 1,2,4-oxadiazepines. In the first part of the study, electrophilic cyclization of &alpha / ,&beta / -alkynic hydrazones by molecular iodine and copper iodide were investigated as new ways for the synthesis of 4-iodopyrazoles and pyrazoles, respectively. Initially, &alpha / ,&beta / -alkynic hydrazones were prepared by the reactions of propargyl aldehydes and ketones with hydrazines. Then &alpha / ,&beta / -alkynic hydrazones were treated with molecular iodine in the presence of NaHCO3, which afforded 4-iodopyrazoles in good to excellent yields. Subsequently, the same reactions were carried out with CuI in the presence of NEt3, which furnished corresponding pyrazoles in good yields. Moreover, ferrocenyl-substituted 4-iodopyrazoles and pyrazole derivatives were synthesized from corresponding

In this study, the synthesis of 5-ferrocenyl/aryl-4-(phenylselenyl)-1H-pyrazole derivatives was investigated since the integration of ferrocenyl and selenium moieties into pyrazole derivatives may increase their current biological activities. Initially, the starting propargyl aldehydes were synthesized from corresponding acetylenes. Subsequently, propargyl aldehydes were reacted with hydrazines to yield corresponding hydrazones. Then the in situ synthesized hydrazones were subjected to electrophilic cyclization with phenylselenyl chloride, which afforded 5-ferrocenyl/aryl-4-(phenylselenyl)-1H-pyrazoles in one-pot manner. Subsequently, reaction conditions were optimized in terms of electrophile, base, temperature and solvent. Best results were obtained with phenylselenyl chloride and NaHCO3 at room temperature in DCM for ferrocenyl substituted pyrazoles and DCE for aryl substituted pyrazoles. In summary, by employing the electrophilic cyclizations of in situ synthesized acetylenic hydrazones, a variety of 5-ferrocenyl/aryl-4-(phenylselenyl)-1H-pyrazole derivatives were synthesized in one-pot way in moderate to good yields.

Recently, considerable interest has been devoted to the synthesis of new ferrocene derivatives since properly functionalized ferrocene derivatives could be potential antitumor substances. For this purpose, we have investigated the synthesis of ferrocenyl quinones starting from squaric acid. Thermolysis of ferrocenylsubstituted cyclobutenones, which have been prepared from ferrocenyl cyclobutenediones and alkenyllithiums, affords hydroquinones, which furnish, upon oxidation, ferrocenyl quinones. Ferrocenyl cyclobutenediones have been prepared from known cyclobutenediones by nucleophilic addition of ferrocenyllithiumfollowed by hydrolysis, Pd/Cu-cocatalyzed cross-coupling with (tri-n-butylstannyl)ferrocene or Friedel&amp / #8211 / Crafts alkylation with ferrocene. A mechanism involving electrocyclic ring opening of alkenyl substituted cyclobutenone to dienylketene and consequent electrocyclic ring closure to cyclohexadienone followed by enolization has been proposed to account for the formation of ferocenyl substituted hydroquinones. Rocket design and production is one of the hottest topics in defense industry. On this subject, significant amount of investments have been done and excellent results were obtained. Among the burning rate catalysts for composite rocket propellants, ferrocene derivatives are one of the most famous ones. Although ferrocene derivatives are superior to some other burning rate catalysts, their use has some drawbacks arising from the tendency of migration in the bulk of the material and their sensitivity toward oxidation by air. With the aim of preventing the negative aspects of ferrocene derivatives, we have investigated the synthesis of EDA (ethylenediamine), TEP (tetraethylenepentamine) and DDI (dimeryl-diisocyanate) based ferrocene derivatives.

ABSTRACT SYNTHESIS OF 1,2,3,5-TETRASUBSTITUTED PYRROLE DERIVATIVES VIA 5-EXO-DIG TYPE CYCLIZATION AND STEREOSELECTIVE FUNCTIONALISATION OF FERROCENE DERIVATIVES Metin Kayalar M.S., Department of Chemistry Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayhan S. Demir January 2005, 102 pages A convenient and new method for the synthesis of 1,2,3,5-tetrasubstituted pyrrole derivatives starting from 1,3,-dicarbonyl compounds through acid catalyzed cyclization reaction is described. Alkylation of 1,3-dicarbonyl compound with propargyl bromide followed by one step cyclization with the introduction of primary amines in the presence of catalytic amount of triflouroacetic acid (TFA) affords the corresponding pyrrole derivatives in high yields. The investigations on the studies of developing a new method for catalytic and stereoselective functionalisation of ferrocene derivatives were summarized. Functionalisation studies were carried out in three main strategy the first one of which is carboxylation, second one is arylation and the last one is oxidative cross-coupling with &amp / #945 / , &amp / #946 / -unsaturated carbonyl compounds.

In this study a bidentate ligand containing two ferrocenyl moieties, N,N&#039 / -bis(ferrocenylmethylene)ethylenediamine, was prepared by condensation reaction of ferrocenecarboxyaldehyde and ethylenediamine on refluxing in benzene. The molecule was identified by IR, Raman, UV-Vis, 1H-, 13C-NMR spectroscopies. Then, this bidentate molecule was reacted with tetracarbonyl(bicyclo[2.1.1] hepta-2,5-diene)molybdenum(0). The ligand substitution reaction in toluene yielded the new complex, tetracarbonyl[N,N&acute / -bis(ferrocenylmethylene)ethylenediamine] molybdenum(0). This new complex could be isolated from the reaction solution in the form of orange crystals and fully characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-Vis, MS, 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopies. As a bidentate ligand, N,N&acute / -bis(ferrocenylmethylene)ethylenediamine binds the metal atom in the two cis positions in the pseudooctahedral geometry of the molybdenum-complex. Electrochemistry of the tetracarbonyl[N,N&acute / -bis(ferrocenylmethylene) ethylenediamine]molybdenum(0) was studied by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and controlled potential electrolysis combined with the UV-Vis or infrared spectroscopy. One irreversible oxidation and three reversible oxidations were observed in the cyclic voltammogram. Irreversible and a reversible oxidations are attributed to molybdenum and the other two reversible oxidation to iron centers. It is found that the two ferrocene groups started communication with each other after formation of molybdenum-complex.