The ESR study of chemical interactions in triple solid silver–carbon tetrachloride–mesogenic cyanobiphenyl co-condensate system

The possibilities of new metal–mesogenic complexes formation and their solid phase chemical reactions have been demonstrated using low temperature co-condensation technique and ESR-spectroscopy for solid triple system, containing silver, mesogenic ligand 4-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) and alternative electron-acceptor ligand or the third reactive component carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). It was shown by ESR-spectroscopy that the existence of four paramagnetic products are stabilized in the system at low temperatures: silver atom p-complex with two cyanobiphenyl molecules, silver atom s-complex with cyanobiphenyl molecule stabilized by CCl4 co-ligand, complex of AgCl molecule with trichloromethyl radical – AgCl CCl3 and silver nanoclusters – Agx, formed by silver atoms aggregation in mesogenic matrix. The relative thermal stability of these silver species and mechanism of their thermal behavior are discussed.