Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules

A central idea in electron-transfer theories is the coupling of the electronic state of a molecule to its structure. Here we show experimentally that fine changes to molecular structures by mechanically stretching a single metal complex molecule via changing the metal–ligand bond length can shift it...

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Main Authors: Li, Y., Haworth, N., Xiang, L., Ciampi, Simone, Coote, M., Tao, N.
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Chemical Society 2017
Online Access:https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/209115
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57287
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author Li, Y.
Haworth, N.
Xiang, L.
Ciampi, Simone
Coote, M.
Tao, N.
author_facet Li, Y.
Haworth, N.
Xiang, L.
Ciampi, Simone
Coote, M.
Tao, N.
author_sort Li, Y.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A central idea in electron-transfer theories is the coupling of the electronic state of a molecule to its structure. Here we show experimentally that fine changes to molecular structures by mechanically stretching a single metal complex molecule via changing the metal–ligand bond length can shift its electronic energy levels and predictably guide electron-transfer reactions, leading to the changes in redox state. We monitor the redox state of the molecule by tracking its characteristic conductance, determine the shift in the redox potential due to mechanical stretching of the metal–ligand bond, and perform model calculations to provide insights into the observations. The work reveals that a mechanical force can shift the redox potential of a molecule, change its redox state, and thus allow the manipulation of single molecule conductance.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:09:30Z
format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:09:30Z
publishDate 2017
publisher American Chemical Society
recordtype eprints
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-572872022-09-01T08:30:23Z Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules Li, Y. Haworth, N. Xiang, L. Ciampi, Simone Coote, M. Tao, N. A central idea in electron-transfer theories is the coupling of the electronic state of a molecule to its structure. Here we show experimentally that fine changes to molecular structures by mechanically stretching a single metal complex molecule via changing the metal–ligand bond length can shift its electronic energy levels and predictably guide electron-transfer reactions, leading to the changes in redox state. We monitor the redox state of the molecule by tracking its characteristic conductance, determine the shift in the redox potential due to mechanical stretching of the metal–ligand bond, and perform model calculations to provide insights into the observations. The work reveals that a mechanical force can shift the redox potential of a molecule, change its redox state, and thus allow the manipulation of single molecule conductance. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57287 10.1021/jacs.7b08239 https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/209115 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160100732 American Chemical Society unknown
spellingShingle Li, Y.
Haworth, N.
Xiang, L.
Ciampi, Simone
Coote, M.
Tao, N.
Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
title Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
title_full Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
title_fullStr Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
title_full_unstemmed Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
title_short Mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
title_sort mechanical stretching-induced electron transfer reactions and conductance switching in single molecules
url https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/209115
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/209115
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/57287