NITRILE-BASED CAROTENOID COMPLEXES OF RU(II), RE(I) AND PT(II) METALS: COORDINATION SYNTHESIS, ELECTROCHEMICAL AND PHOTOPHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION A Dissertation by Arvin John Filoteo Cruz B.S. Chemistry, De La Salle University, 1998 Submitted to the Department of Chemistry and the faculty of the Graduate School of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2009