The restoration of the largest archaelogical discovery--a chemical problem: conservation of the polychromy of the Chinese terracotta army in Lintong.

The conservation of the polychromy of the terracotta army of the first Chinese emperor Qin Shihuangdi represents a special problem because of the deterioration of the ground layer consisting of organic material. This was triggered due to it having spent more than 2200 years in water-saturated soil. The consolidation of the polychromy was achieved through polymerisation of a specially adapted combination of monomers.

Enantiomerisation of tetrahedral homochiral [M4L6] clusters: synchronised four Bailar twists and six atropenantiomerisation processes monitored by temperature-dependent dynamic 1H NMR spectroscopy.

Temperature-dependent 1H NMR studies prove homochiral, racemic [([symbol: see text])/([symbol: see text])]-((NH4)4[symbol: see text] [Mg4(L1)6]) (1) to be kinetically stable on the NMR timescale. Due to steric reasons, rotation around the central C-C single bond in (L1)2- is blocked, which prevents 1 from enantiomerisation. Most interestingly, however, the 1H NMR spectrum of racemic 2a reveals dynamic temperature dependence. This phenomenon can be explained by simultaneous Bailar twists at the four octahedrally coordinated magnesium centres, synchronised with the sterically unhindered atropenantiomerisation processes around the C-C single bonds of the six ligands (L2)2-, leading to the unprecedented enantiomerisation ([symbol: see text])-2a [symbol: see text] ([symbol: see text])-2a. The profound nondissociative rearrangement occurs without the formation of diastereoisomers. Supplementary support for the interpretation of the temperature-dependent dynamic 1H NMR spectra of 2a is presented by additional studies of [([symbol: see text])/([symbol: see text])]-((EtNH3)4 [symbol: see text] [Mg4(L2)6]) (2b). In 2a and 2b, the ether methylene protons exhibit identical temperature dependence. However, with addition, the methylene protons of the ethyl ammonium groups of 2b display similar temperature dependence as the ligand ether methylene protons.