All about (N-hexadecylquinolin-4-ium-1-yl)methylidenetricyanoquinodimethanide, a unimolecular rectifier of electrical current

1 January 2000

journal article
Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in Journal of Materials Chemistry

Vol. 10 (1) , 55-62
https://doi.org/10.1039/a903888d

Abstract

We found unimolecular rectification in a single molecule, (N-hexadecylquinolin-4-ium-1-yl)methylidenetricyanoquinomethanide, 1, in which the ground state is zwitterionic: D⁺–π–A⁻, and has a large dipole moment (43 D) while the first excited state is undissociated: D⁰–π–A⁰ (and has a smaller moment, between 3 and 9 D). The intervalence optical absorption band connecting these two states is strongly hypsochromic. Spectroscopic measurements (FTIR, NMR, VIS–UV, XPS) all confirm this assignment. This significant ‘first step' to unimolecular electronics, i.e. a rectifier only 2.3 nm thick, confirms a 1974 proposal by Aviram and Ratner. However, the ‘real proof' that the large current under forward bias actually travels through the molecule, has not yet been obtained.

Keywords

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