title: New ruthenium carbonyl clusters containing unusual  5-sulfido-,  4-benzyne-, and thianthrene-derived ligands: Insertion of ruthenium into the thianthrene ring by C-S activation

authors: Hassan, Mohammad R.

abstract: Treatment of [Ru3(CO)12] with thianthrene in refluxing toluene afforded [( 4-S)Ru4( -CO)2(CO)9( 4- 2-C6H4)] (1), [( 5-S)Ru6( -CO)2(CO)15( - 3-C12H8S)] (2), and [( 5-S)Ru5( -CO)2(CO)11( - 3-C12H8S)( 4- 2-C6H4)] (3) in 18%, 8%, and 16% yields, respectively. Thermolysis of 2 in refluxing heptane gave compounds 1 and 3. A similar thermolysis of 3 in refluxing toluene gave 1 in 90% yield. Treatment of 3 with neat MeCN afforded the labile compound [( 5-S)Ru5( -CO)2(CO)10( - 3-C12H8S)( 4- 2-C6H4)(MeCN)] (4) in 73% yield. The reaction of 4 with P(OMe)3 gave the substitution product [( 5-S)Ru5( -CO)2(CO)10( - 3-C12H8S)( 4- 2-C6H4){P(OMe)3}] (5) in 52% yield. Compounds 1-4 have been structurally characterized. Compound 1 contains a  4-capping sulfido and a  4- 2-benzyne ligand, whereas 3, 4, and 5 contain  5-sulfido and  4- 2-benzyne ligands. The latter three compounds provide rare examples of  5-sulfido and metal-assisted opening of the thianthrene ligand on polynuclear centers. In compounds 1, 3, and 4 the  4- 2-benzyne ligand is perpendicular to the Ru4 face of the clusters and represents a previously uncharacterized bonding mode for benzyne.

text: New ruthenium carbonyl clusters containing unusual  5-sulfido-,  4-benzyne-, and thianthrene-derived ligands: Insertion of ruthenium into the thianthrene ring by C-S activation Treatment of [Ru3(CO)12] with thianthrene in refluxing toluene afforded [( 4-S)Ru4( -CO)2(CO)9( 4- 2-C6H4)] (1), [( 5-S)Ru6( -CO)2(CO)15( - 3-C12H8S)] (2), and [( 5-S)Ru5( -CO)2(CO)11( - 3-C12H8S)( 4- 2-C6H4)] (3) in 18%, 8%, and 16% yields, respectively. Thermolysis of 2 in refluxing heptane gave compounds 1 and 3. A similar thermolysis of 3 in refluxing toluene gave 1 in 90% yield. Treatment of 3 with neat MeCN afforded the labile compound [( 5-S)Ru5( -CO)2(CO)10( - 3-C12H8S)( 4- 2-C6H4)(MeCN)] (4) in 73% yield. The reaction of 4 with P(OMe)3 gave the substitution product [( 5-S)Ru5( -CO)2(CO)10( - 3-C12H8S)( 4- 2-C6H4){P(OMe)3}] (5) in 52% yield. Compounds 1-4 have been structurally characterized. Compound 1 contains a  4-capping sulfido and a  4- 2-benzyne ligand, whereas 3, 4, and 5 contain  5-sulfido and  4- 2-benzyne ligands. The latter three compounds provide rare examples of  5-sulfido and metal-assisted opening of the thianthrene ligand on polynuclear centers. In compounds 1, 3, and 4 the  4- 2-benzyne ligand is perpendicular to the Ru4 face of the clusters and represents a previously uncharacterized bonding mode for benzyne.

year: 2007-07-01

title: Searching for happiness in ‘other worlds’: Utopias and dystopias in Japanese isekai

authors: Wang, Xueqian (Amy)

subjects: Isekai

abstract: This thesis focuses on the popular, but under-researched genre, of isekai. Although the wider medium umbrella under which isekai falls — anime, manga and light novels — have received increasing critical attention, the isekai is a genre that has only begun to be academically explored over the last three to four years, particularly from 2020 onwards. Literally translating to ‘another world,’ it is a branch of the familiar portal-quest fantasy category that has, particularly in recent years, formed its own, distinctive formulas and tropes. This thesis makes an important contribution to unpacking and understanding this surprisingly complex and nuanced genre that offers readers and viewers both entertainment, and a way of thinking about relevant issues to do with personal happiness and self-fulfilment. In this thesis, I will offer an analysis of three isekai narratives through the primary lens of utopian and dystopian discourse, highlighting the way in which the isekai explores both human desires and fears. Hybridity is a key finding of my analysis, with the genre not only juxtaposing and combining utopia and dystopia, but also, old and new worlds, portal-quest and immersive fantasy elements, and Western and Japanese literary and cultural perspectives. This hybridity points to the entangled, interconnected nature of utopia and dystopia itself.
The three texts I have chosen all follow the contemporary isekai trend of featuring adult protagonists (as opposed to teenagers), the “Japanese Salaryman/woman”, worn out by work and modern society. The three series that I analyse are That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2014) by Fuse, By the Grace of the Gods (2017) by Roy, and I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (2017) by Kisetsu Morita. Each of these new worlds is structured in a way that encourages the protagonist to embrace personal desires that were suppressed on Earth, and provides a sense of healing. With the skills and knowledge inherited from Earth, combined alongside the new abilities the protagonists gain as they are reincarnated or summoned into the new world, the central characters are granted the opportunity to create a new, utopian life for themselves. By extension, they exert an influence on the land and people around them to ultimately forge a more utopian world. The way that the protagonists navigate and explore their relationship between both old and new worlds, as well as their old and new selves, further reveals a more complex relationship between utopia and dystopia. The recurring cultural aspects present in these texts, most notably cuisine and business practices, emphasises the desire for cultural fusion, as well as offering insightful social critique. While the new world also contains dystopian elements, I propose that the isekai can be viewed as a new reimagining of a Japanese utopia.

text: Searching for happiness in ‘other worlds’: Utopias and dystopias in Japanese isekai This thesis focuses on the popular, but under-researched genre, of isekai. Although the wider medium umbrella under which isekai falls — anime, manga and light novels — have received increasing critical attention, the isekai is a genre that has only begun to be academically explored over the last three to four years, particularly from 2020 onwards. Literally translating to ‘another world,’ it is a branch of the familiar portal-quest fantasy category that has, particularly in recent years, formed its own, distinctive formulas and tropes. This thesis makes an important contribution to unpacking and understanding this surprisingly complex and nuanced genre that offers readers and viewers both entertainment, and a way of thinking about relevant issues to do with personal happiness and self-fulfilment. In this thesis, I will offer an analysis of three isekai narratives through the primary lens of utopian and dystopian discourse, highlighting the way in which the isekai explores both human desires and fears. Hybridity is a key finding of my analysis, with the genre not only juxtaposing and combining utopia and dystopia, but also, old and new worlds, portal-quest and immersive fantasy elements, and Western and Japanese literary and cultural perspectives. This hybridity points to the entangled, interconnected nature of utopia and dystopia itself.
The three texts I have chosen all follow the contemporary isekai trend of featuring adult protagonists (as opposed to teenagers), the “Japanese Salaryman/woman”, worn out by work and modern society. The three series that I analyse are That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2014) by Fuse, By the Grace of the Gods (2017) by Roy, and I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (2017) by Kisetsu Morita. Each of these new worlds is structured in a way that encourages the protagonist to embrace personal desires that were suppressed on Earth, and provides a sense of healing. With the skills and knowledge inherited from Earth, combined alongside the new abilities the protagonists gain as they are reincarnated or summoned into the new world, the central characters are granted the opportunity to create a new, utopian life for themselves. By extension, they exert an influence on the land and people around them to ultimately forge a more utopian world. The way that the protagonists navigate and explore their relationship between both old and new worlds, as well as their old and new selves, further reveals a more complex relationship between utopia and dystopia. The recurring cultural aspects present in these texts, most notably cuisine and business practices, emphasises the desire for cultural fusion, as well as offering insightful social critique. While the new world also contains dystopian elements, I propose that the isekai can be viewed as a new reimagining of a Japanese utopia.

year: 2022

title: Using the stars to indigenize the public sphere: Matariki over New Zealand

authors: Hardy, Anna

subjects: Arts & Humanities

abstract: As the rate of affiliation to Christian identity continues to decline in Aotearoa New Zealand (only 49 percent of the population said they were Christian in the last census), public space has become more receptive to other forms of religiosity. In particular, community rituals around the winter movements of the Matariki (Pleiades) constellation have gained support since the year 2000. For instance, the capital city, Wellington, has replaced a centuries’ old British fireworks festival, Guy Fawkes, with an enlarged version of its Matariki celebrations: an action seen as a tipping point in the incorporation of Māori spiritual values into public life. Interactions between European colonisers and Māori have been characterised for more than 250 years by tensions between the relational thinking of Māori who see human beings as both participating in and constrained by an environment resonant with divine energies, and the quantitative, hierarchical, ‘Great Chain of Being’ model that had long been dominant among Europeans. Now, when the natural environment worldwide is under strain from population and economic pressures, it seems to some both appropriate and vital to look to epistemological and spiritual models that are intimately responsive to the specificities of location.

text: Using the stars to indigenize the public sphere: Matariki over New Zealand As the rate of affiliation to Christian identity continues to decline in Aotearoa New Zealand (only 49 percent of the population said they were Christian in the last census), public space has become more receptive to other forms of religiosity. In particular, community rituals around the winter movements of the Matariki (Pleiades) constellation have gained support since the year 2000. For instance, the capital city, Wellington, has replaced a centuries’ old British fireworks festival, Guy Fawkes, with an enlarged version of its Matariki celebrations: an action seen as a tipping point in the incorporation of Māori spiritual values into public life. Interactions between European colonisers and Māori have been characterised for more than 250 years by tensions between the relational thinking of Māori who see human beings as both participating in and constrained by an environment resonant with divine energies, and the quantitative, hierarchical, ‘Great Chain of Being’ model that had long been dominant among Europeans. Now, when the natural environment worldwide is under strain from population and economic pressures, it seems to some both appropriate and vital to look to epistemological and spiritual models that are intimately responsive to the specificities of location.

year: 2019