Polymorphism in porphyrin monolayers: the relation between adsorption configuration and molecular conformation

Role of redox-active axial ligands of metal porphyrins adsorbed at solid-liquid interfaces in a liquid-STM setup

In a liquid-STM setup environment, the redox behavior of manganese porphyrins was studied at various solid-liquid interfaces. In the presence of a solution of Mn(III)Cl porphyrins in 1-phenyloctane, which was placed at a conductive surface, large and constant additional currents relative to a set tunneling current were observed, which varied with the magnitude of the applied bias voltage. These currents occurred regardless of the type of surface (HOPG or Au(111)) or tip material (PtIr, Au or W). The additional currents were ascribed to the occurrence of redox reactions in which chloride is oxidized to chlorine and the Mn(III) center of the porphyrin moiety is reduced to Mn(II). The resulting Mn(II) porphyrin products were identified by UV-vis analysis of the liquid phase. For solutions of Mn(III) porphyrins with non-redox active acetate instead of chloride axial ligands, the currents remained absent.

Self-Assembly of Covalently Linked Porphyrin Dimers at the Solid-Liquid Interface

The synthesis and surface self-assembly behavior of two types of metal-porphyrin dimers is described. The first dimer type consists of two porphyrins linked via a rigid conjugated spacer, and the second type has an alkyne linker, which allows rotation of the porphyrin moieties with respect to each other. The conjugated dimers were equipped with two copper or two manganese centers, while the flexible dimers allowed a modular built-up that also made the incorporation of two different metal centers possible. The self-assembly of the new porphyrin dimers at a solid-liquid interface was investigated at the single-molecule scale using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). All dimers formed monolayers, of which the stability and the internal degree of ordering of the molecules depended on the metal centers in the porphyrins. While in all monolayers the dimers were oriented coplanar with respect to the underlying surface ('face-on'), the flexible dimer containing a manganese and a copper center could be induced, via the application of a voltage pulse in the STM setup, to self-assemble into monolayers in which the porphyrin dimers adopted a non-common perpendicular ('edge-on') geometry with respect to the surface.

How Equilibrium Gets Mimicked During Kinetic and Thermodynamic Control in Porphyrin and Phthalocyanine Self-Assembled Monolayers

The recent review of Hipps and Mazur is extended to consider the origins and significance of their conclusion that "surface structures vary with relative component concentration in a way that may mimic equilibria but is not". How this situation can arise during self-assembly is discussed, as well as a range of qualitative and quantitative observations and high-level free-energy calculations that document the effect for meso-tetraalkylporphyrins self-assembled monolayer (SAM) polymorphs. This leads to a discussion of modern challenges facing quantification of the effects caused by kinetic control, as well as to the usefulness of equilibrium mimicking in the design and synthesis of SAMs.

Putting David Craig’s Legacy to Work in Nanotechnology and Biotechnology

David Craig (1919–2015) left us with a lasting legacy concerning basic understanding of chemical spectroscopy and bonding. This is expressed in terms of some of the recent achievements of my own research career, with a focus on integration of Craig’s theories with those of Noel Hush to solve fundamental problems in photosynthesis, molecular electronics (particularly in regard to the molecules synthesized by Maxwell Crossley), and self-assembled monolayer structure and function. Reviewed in particular is the relation of Craig’s legacy to: the 50-year struggle to assign the visible absorption spectrum of arguably the world’s most significant chromophore, chlorophyll; general theories for chemical bonding and structure extending Hush’s adiabatic theory of electron-transfer processes; inelastic electron-tunnelling spectroscopy (IETS); chemical quantum entanglement and the Penrose–Hameroff model for quantum consciousness; synthetic design strategies for NMR quantum computing; Gibbs free-energy measurements and calculations for formation and polymorphism of organic self-assembled monolayers on graphite surfaces from organic solution; and understanding the basic chemical processes involved in the formation of gold surfaces and nanoparticles protected by sulfur-bound ligands, ligands whose form is that of Au0-thiyl rather than its commonly believed AuI-thiolate tautomer.

A priori calculations of the free energy of formation from solution of polymorphic self-assembled monolayers

Modern quantum chemical electronic structure methods typically applied to localized chemical bonding are developed to predict atomic structures and free energies for meso-tetraalkylporphyrin self-assembled monolayer (SAM) polymorph formation from organic solution on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite surfaces. Large polymorph-dependent dispersion-induced substrate-molecule interactions (e.g., -100 kcal mol(-1) to -150 kcal mol(-1) for tetratrisdecylporphyrin) are found to drive SAM formation, opposed nearly completely by large polymorph-dependent dispersion-induced solvent interactions (70-110 kcal mol(-1)) and entropy effects (25-40 kcal mol(-1) at 298 K) favoring dissolution. Dielectric continuum models of the solvent are used, facilitating consideration of many possible SAM polymorphs, along with quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical and dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations. These predict and interpret newly measured and existing high-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopy images of SAM structure, rationalizing polymorph formation conditions. A wide range of molecular condensed matter properties at room temperature now appear suitable for prediction and analysis using electronic structure calculations.

Self-assembled monolayers of shape-persistent macrocycles on graphite: interior design and conformational polymorphism

Three shape-persistent naphthylene-phenylene-acetylene macrocycles of identical backbone structures and extraannular substitution patterns but different (empty, apolar, polar) nanopore fillings are self-assembled at the solid/liquid interface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene. Submolecularly resolved images of the resulting two-dimensional (2D) crystalline monolayer patterns are obtained by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. A concentration-dependent conformational polymorphism is found, and open and more dense packing motifs are observed. For all three compounds alike lattice parameters are found, therefore the intermolecular macrocycle distances are mainly determined by their size and symmetry. This is an excellent example that the graphite acts as a template for the macrocycle organization independent from their specific interior.