Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Enhanced π–π Stacking between Dipole-Bearing Si...

Electronic data

  • Enhanced π-π stacking between dipole-bearing single molecules revealed by conductance measurement

    Rights statement: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of the American Chemical Society, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.2c09656

    Accepted author manuscript, 1.41 MB, PDF document

    Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Links

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Enhanced π–π Stacking between Dipole-Bearing Single Molecules Revealed by Conductance Measurement

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
Close
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>25/01/2023
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of the American Chemical Society
Issue number3
Volume145
Number of pages14
Pages (from-to)1617-1630
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date10/01/23
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Dipoles are widely involved in π-π interactions and are central to many chemical and biological functions, but their influence on the strength of π-π interactions remains unclear. Here, we report a study of π-π interaction between azulene-based, polar single molecules and between naphthalene-based, nonpolar single molecules. By performing scanning tunneling microscopy break junction measurements of single-molecule conductance, we show that the π-stacked dimers formed by the azulene-based, polar aromatic structures feature higher electrical conductivity and mechanical stability than those formed by the naphthalene-based, nonpolar molecules. Mechanical control of π-π interactions in both rotational and translational motion reveals a sensitive dependence of the stacking strength on relative alignment between the dipoles. The antiparallel alignment of the dipoles was found to be the optimal stacking configuration that underpins the observed enhancement of π-π stacking between azulene-based single molecules. Density functional theory calculations further explained the observed enhancement of stacking strength and the corresponding charge transport efficiency. Our experimental and theoretical results show that the antiparallel alignment of the dipole moments significantly enhances the electronic coupling and mechanical stability of π-π stacking. In addition, in the formation of single-molecule junctions, the azulene group was experimentally and theoretically proved to form a Au−π contact with electrodes with high charge transport efficiency. This paper provides evidence and interpretation of the role of dipoles in π-π interactions at the single-molecule level and offers new insights into potential applications in supramolecular devices.

Bibliographic note

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of the American Chemical Society, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.2c09656