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Spectroscopic and computational examination of a homologous series of rhodium(I) pybox carbonyl complexes has revealed a correlation between the conformation of the flanking aryl-substituted oxazoline donors and the carbonyl stretching frequency. This relationship is also observed experimentally for octahedral rhodium(III) and ruthenium(II) variants and cannot be explained through the classical, Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson, interpretation of metal-carbonyl bonding. Instead, these findings are reconciled by local changes in the magnitude of the electric field that is projected along the metal-carbonyl vector: the internal Stark effect. ispartof: CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL vol:28 issue:69 ispartof: location:Germany status: published

The advances made in chemistry during the last 70 years are excellently illustrated by the development of the industrial synthesis of vitamin A, a diterpene crucial in preventing premature death and visual problems. Arens and van Dorp published the first route in 1946, and critical contributions have been made by a number of scientists since, benefitting from fruitful collaborations between industry and academia. However, these improvements have been mostly incremental, and the work has been performed by a limited number of companies; as yet, there is still no ‘ideal’ synthesis of vitamin A.