Mercury alkynyls as versatile templates for new organometallic materials and polymers

Rigid-rod transition metal alkynyl compounds of various group 10 and 11 elements have been widely studied over the past decades in different domains of material science because of their unique structures and photophysical properties. However, the designed synthesis and thorough investigation of the parallel chemistry of group 12 mercury alkynyl compounds has been relatively under explored. This article summarizes recent progress in the developments of linear mercury-based metallaynes as well as their long-chain oligomers and polymers. These novel organomercurial materials exhibit interesting chemical, physical and material properties. Synthetic avenues towards the preparation of these mercury(II) alkynyl compounds and their photophysical and solid-state structural features are comprehensively reviewed. Practical utilization of these mercury alkynyls in different areas including optoelectronic and analytical applications are critically discussed in this review. The future developments of this research frontier are also envisaged. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.