Stacking of metal chelates with benzene: can dispersion-corrected DFT be used to calculate organic-inorganic stacking?

CCSD(T)/CBS energies for stacking of nickel and copper chelates are calculated and used as benchmark data for evaluating the performance of dispersion-corrected density functionals for calculating the interaction energies. The best functionals for modeling the stacking of benzene with the nickel chelate are M06HF-D3 with the def2-TZVP basis set, and B3LYP-D3 with either def2-TZVP or aug-cc-pVDZ basis set, whereas for copper chelate the PBE0-D3 with def2-TZVP basis set yielded the best results. M06L-D3 with aug-cc-pVDZ gives satisfying results for both chelates. Most of the tested dispersion-corrected density functionals do not reproduce the benchmark data for stacking of benzene with both nickel (no unpaired electrons) and copper chelate (one unpaired electron), whereas a number of these functionals perform well for interactions of organic molecules.

Synthesis and structure–property investigation of multi-arm oligothiophenes

A series of soluble 3D-oligothiophenes with different conjugation lengths are synthesized and characterized. Physical properties and formation of charge transfer complexes of oligothiophenes with Hg(ii) ions and TCNQ are investigated.

Controlling pyridinic, pyrrolic, graphitic, and molecular nitrogen in multi-wall carbon nanotubes using precursors with different N/C ratios in aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition

The change in the N/C ratio in feedstock allows controlling nitrogen species incorporation into multi-wall carbon nanotubes during CCVD.

Studies on the electrochemical growth of (Per)2[Au(mnt)2]

The first stages of the electrocrystallization of (Per)(2)[Au(mnt)(2)] salt from dichloromethane on gold, platinum, and highly orientated pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in order to understand the determinant factors for nucleation and crystal growth. The crystal growth occurs from adsorbed films of dithiolate on gold or platinum and of perylene on HOPG, after homogeneous nucleation, and it is controlled by the low diffusion of the species toward the growing surface.

New Development in the Preparation of Micro/Nano-Wires of Molecular (Magnetic) Conductors

A lot of molecular (magnetic) conductors are prepared largely using charge-transfer (CT) salts of donor molecules with acceptor molecules or nonmagnetic or magnetic anions such as metal halides and oxides; their CT salts are usually obtained as bulk crystals, which are used to elucidate the electrical conducting (magnetic) properties. In contrast, a small number of micro/nano-crystals of the molecular (magnetic) conductors, especially micro/nano-wires, are known, of which highly conducting nanowires are necessary as a key component in the development of the next generation of nano-size transistors and spin-transistors. Very recently, we succeeded in preparing highly conductive micro/nano-wires of CT salts between bent donor molecules developed by one of the author’s group and magnetic FeX₄^– (X = Cl, Br) ions: (1) by electrochemical oxidation of the bent donor molecules with a silicon wafer electrode coated with a phospholipid multi-lamellar structure as well as, (ii) by electrochemical oxidation of the bent donor molecules with a large arc structure, in the presence of NBu₄FeX₄ supporting electrolytes. This article reviews template-free and template-assisted methods developed so far for the preparation of micro/nano-wires of molecular (magnetic) conductors along with our new methods. The conducting properties of these micro/nano-wires are compared with those of the corresponding bulk crystals.

Morphological tuning and conductivity of organic conductor nanowires

We report the synthesis of small-molecule organic conductor nanowires of TTF-TCNQ by selective inducement in a two-phase method by pi-pi stacking interaction. The morphologies of TTF-TCNQ, from straight nanowires to helical nanowires and to complicated helical dendrite structures, have been controlled by adjusting the experimental conditions. The technique has been applied to the synthesis of AgTCNQ/CuTCNQ nanowires in a two-phase system of acetonitrile/hexane. I-V characterization of an individual nanowire indicated that the conductivity along the b-axis of the TTF-TCNQ helical nanowire is much better than that along other directions. The synthetic procedure presented is a general approach for producing controlled organic conductor/semiconductor nanowires.

Assembly of functional molecular nanostructures on surfaces

This tutorial review discusses different techniques for the preparation and deposition on surfaces of organic nanostructures--monolayers, nanowires, nano-dots and other aggregates--with emphasis on the key role that chemical design and non-covalent interactions (between molecules themselves and molecules and surface) play in the definition of the final structure and its properties. The characterisation of the nanostructures and the important effects of post-deposition treatment are also touched upon. The tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) unit is used as the example to demonstrate the general principles that are applicable for these different nanoscale architectures, because of the interest of this family of compounds in molecular electronics.