Issue 33, 2021

The quest for single component molecular metals within neutral transition metal complexes

Abstract

Twenty years ago, the molecular materials community accomplished a major breakthrough with the report of the first single component molecular metal (SCMM). Previously it was believed that molecular metals had to be composed of a pair of partially oxidized species, a condition necessary to guarantee the formation of the conduction band and the generation of charge carriers. However, by the turn of the millennium a new paradigm arose with the discovery of metallic behaviour in two neutral complexes, [Ni(tmdt)2] (tmdt: trimethylenetetrathiafulvalenedithiolate) and [Au(α-tpdt)2] (α-tpdt: 2,3-thiophenedithiolate). Since then, this topic gathered the attention of the scientific community and the number of available SCMM in literature consequentially increased. By their nature, neutral bis(1,2-dithiolene) and bis(1,2-diselenolene) transition metal (BTM) complexes still remain, by far, the best candidates to obtain a SCMM. This review will focus on these materials, their design, synthesis, and properties. Based on their molecular-crystal-band structures, an analysis of the requirements to prepare a SCMM, will also be address.

Graphical abstract: The quest for single component molecular metals within neutral transition metal complexes

Associated articles

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
27 mar 2021
Accepted
26 may 2021
First published
26 may 2021

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2021,9, 10591-10609

The quest for single component molecular metals within neutral transition metal complexes

M. F. G. Velho, R. A. L. Silva and D. Belo, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2021, 9, 10591 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC01407B

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