Gating of Quantum Interference in Molecular Junctions by Heteroatom Substitution

Liu, Xunshan; Sangtarash, Sara; Reber, David; Zhang, Dan; Sadeghi, Hatef; Shi, Jia; Xiao, Zong-Yuan; Hong, Wenjing; Lambert, Colin J.; Liu, Shi-Xia (2017). Gating of Quantum Interference in Molecular Junctions by Heteroatom Substitution. Angewandte Chemie (International ed.), 56(1), pp. 173-176. Wiley-VCH 10.1002/anie.201609051

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To guide the choice of future synthetic targets for single-molecule electronics, qualitative design rules are needed, which describe the effect of modifying chemical structure. Here the effect of heteroatom substitution on destructive quantum interference (QI) in single-molecule junctions is, for the first time experimentally addressed by investigating the conductance change when a “parent” meta-phenylene ethylene-type oligomer (m-OPE) is modified to yield a “daughter” by inserting one nitrogen atom into the m-OPE core. We find that if the substituted nitrogen is in a meta position relative to both acetylene linkers, the daughter conductance remains as low as the parent. However, if the substituted nitrogen is in an ortho position relative to one acetylene linker and a para position relative to the other, destructive QI is alleviated and the daughter conductance is high. This behavior contrasts with that of a para-connected parent, whose conductance is unaffected by heteroatom substitution. These experimental findings are rationalized by transport calculations and also agree with recent “magic ratio rules”, which capture the role of connectivity in determining the electrical conductance of such parents and daughters.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP)
08 Faculty of Science > Other Institutions > Teaching Staff, Faculty of Science

UniBE Contributor:

Liu, Xunshan, Hong, Wenjing, Liu, Shi-Xia

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science > 540 Chemistry
500 Science

ISSN:

1433-7851

Publisher:

Wiley-VCH

Language:

English

Submitter:

Shi-Xia Liu

Date Deposited:

10 Jan 2017 11:20

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:00

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/anie.201609051

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.90732

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/90732

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