Abstract
This article discusses the requirements for designing single component molecular metals, derived from the results of crystal structure analyses, electrical resistivity measurements and extended Hückel tight-binding band calculations, performed on molecular conductors composed of single-component molecules of [Ni(ptdt)2]
(ptdt = propylenedithiotetrathiafulvalenedithiolate) with extended TTF-). There are intermolecular short S⋯S contacts which indicate that the system is a three-dimensional conductor. The resistivity measurements show that the system is metallic down to 0.6 K. The extended Hückel tight-binding band calculation gave three-dimensional semi-metallic Fermi surfaces. A metallic crystal was also prepared with an analogous molecule [Ni(dmdt)2]
(dmdt = dimethyltetrathiafulvalenedithiolate). The formation of a single component molecular metal opens the possibilities of developing various types of unprecedented functional molecular systems such as single component
molecular superconductors, ferromagnetic metals composed of single component magnetic molecules, molecular metals (or superconductors) soluble in organic
- This article is part of the themed collection: Metal-organic conductors (enriched issue)