Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Electron transfer within and through molecules: A Moore-or-less coordinated approach   (137056)

Paul Low 1
  1. University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia

The ability to mediate electron transfer within, and between, solids and molecules underpins a vast array of processes essential to life (e.g. photosynthesis) and lifestyle (e.g. semiconductor electronics). The interest in the fundamentals and applications of charge transfer processes has driven decades of study using model systems derived from donor-acceptor compounds and complexes, including ‘mixed-valence’ examples. In more recent times, the introduction of laboratory methods for the construction of electrode|molecule(s)|electrode molecular junctions have permitted directed measurement of the electrical characteristics of monolayers and single molecules. Whilst the original impetus around such endeavours may be linked to the concept of a molecular-based electronics technology as part of an effort to maintain Moore’s Law, the unique properties of molecular systems beyond the mimicry of the electronic functions of solid-state materials is increasingly being recognised and pursued.[1]

This presentation will summarise a body of work from the Low group that attempts to draw correlations between results of studies of electron transfer in mixed-valence systems featuring all-carbon and carbon-rich bridges,[2] and the electrical response of molecular junctions formed from similar carbon-based ‘components’ suspended between (metal) electrodes.[3] Strategies that permit the construction of device structures based on metallic top-contacts will also be described,[4]along with evidence of, or at least analogies between, quantum interference effects in both molecular junctions[5] and mixed-valence systems.[6]  

  1. [1] (a) S. Marques-Gonzalez, P.J. Low, Molecular Electronics: History and Fundamentals, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 244-253. (b) J.R. Reimers, P.J. Low, Molecular electronics: An Australian perspective, Aust. J. Chem., 2023, 76, 559 – 580.
  2. [2] P. Safari, S. Gückel, J.B.G. Gluyas, S.A. Moggach, M. Kaupp, P.J. Low, The use of bridging ligand substituents to bias the population of localized and delocalized mixed-valence conformers in solution, Chem. Eur. J., 2022, 28, e202200926.
  3. [3] E. Gorenskaia, P.J. Low, Methods for the analysis, interpretation, and prediction of single-molecule junction conductance behaviour, Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 95110 - 9556.
  4. [4] E. Gorenskaia, K.L. Turner, S. Martin, P. Cea, P.J. Low, Fabrication of metallic and non-metallic top electrodes for ‘large area’ molecular junctions, Nanoscale, 2021, 13, 9055 - 9074.
  5. [5] F. Jiang, D.I. Trupp, N. Algethami, H. Zheng, S. Sangtarash, W. He, A. Alqorashi, C. Zhu, C. Tang, R. Li, J. Liu, H. Sadeghi, J. Shi, R. Davidson, M. Naher, P.J. Low, W. Hong, C. Lambert, Turning the Tap: Conformational Control of Quantum Interference to Modulate Single Molecule Conductance, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 18987 - 18993.
  6. [6] D.P. Harrison, R. Grotjahn, M. Naher, S.M.B.H. Ghazvini, D.M. Mazzucato, M. Korb, S.A. Moggach, C. Lambert, M. Kaupp, P.J. Low, Quantum interference in mixed-valence complexes: tuning electronic coupling through substituent effects, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202211000.