Issue 25, 2024

Conductance and assembly of quasi-1D coordination chain molecular junctions with triazole derivatives

Abstract

Incorporating transition metal atoms into metal–molecule–metal junctions presents opportunities for exploring the electronic properties of coordination complexes, organometallics and metal–organic materials on the single molecule level. Recent single molecule conductance studies have shown that in situ incorporation of electrode metal atoms into coordination chains formed in the junction can occur with deprotonated, negatively charged organic ligands, such as the imidazolate (Im) anion. However, the mechanism and chemical principles, such as the role of the charge state of the ligand, for the construction of such coordination chains are still debated. Here, we probe the role of the ligand charge state and electronic structure in single-molecule conductance and formation of metal–molecule coordination chains. We perform break junction measurements with triazole isomers, which can bridge junctions both in their neutral and charged forms, and find that prior deprotonation of the ligands is not required for coordination complex assembly, but can affect the molecular conductance and junction formation probability. Our results indicate that coordination chains can form with neutral ligands, as long as the electron density in the frontier MOs is concentrated at the binding sites and along the direction of pulling, promoting ligand binding and incorporation of gold atoms into the junction during elongation. Our findings may provide insight into design principles for in situ assembled molecular wires with transition metal atoms and open the door to electronic and spintronic studies of such materials.

Graphical abstract: Conductance and assembly of quasi-1D coordination chain molecular junctions with triazole derivatives

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Apr 2024
Accepted
10 Jun 2024
First published
11 Jun 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Dalton Trans., 2024,53, 10453-10461

Conductance and assembly of quasi-1D coordination chain molecular junctions with triazole derivatives

Z. Miao, X. Pan and M. Kamenetska, Dalton Trans., 2024, 53, 10453 DOI: 10.1039/D4DT01085J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements