Rhodicenium Salts: From Basic Chemistry to Polyelectrolyte and Dendritic Macromolecules

A new, facile synthesis of rhodicenium chloride is described, leading to the synthesis of rhodicenium tetraarylborate, the first rhodicenium salt that is soluble in less polar solvents. This opens the route to further chemistry that was prevented by the insolubility of the formerly available rhodicenium salts. This strategy has been extended to the synthesis of water-soluble polyelectrolyte and dendritic macromolecular cobaltocenium and rhodicenium salts