Silver nanoparticles were created inside mesoporous titania thin films by different reduction processes. We investigated the influence of the reduction method on the colour and photochromism of these amorphous TiO2 films. The results highlight brown films by optical reduction, gray films by thermal reduction, and red, purple or orange films by chemical reduction. The different size distributions and localizations of the nanoparticles, characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy and electron microscopy, give various photochromic behaviours when exposed to visible laser light. We especially report the bleaching of different film colours under laser exposure.
New thiacalix[4]arenes appended with three amide functions have been prepared. Their conformations have been solved thanks to 1H NMR 2D correlation spectroscopy (COSY) and nuclear overhauser and exchange spectroscopy (NOESY). The complexation ability of these ligands towards various metal ions (Cd2 + , Pb2 + , Pd2 + , Ni2 + , Hg2 + , Hg+, Ag+, Zn2 + and Cu2 + ) has been investigated by the UV–vis absorption and the stoichiometry of the metal–ligand complexes was determined.