In situ metalation of free base phthalocyanine covalently bonded to silicon surfaces

Gas-Phase Electronic Structure of Phthalocyanine Ions: A Study of Symmetry and Solvation Effects

Research into and applications of phthalocyanines (Pc) are mostly connected to their intriguing electronic properties. Here, messenger-type UV-vis spectroscopy of two metal-free ions from the phthalocyanine family, cationic H2Pc+ and H2PcD+, along with their hydrates is performed. They show that the electronic properties of both ions can be traced to those in the conjugate base, Pc2-, however, they are affected by state splitting due to the reduced symmetry; in the H2Pc+ radical cation, a new band appears due to excitations into the singly-occupied molecular orbital. Quantum chemical spectra modeling reproduces all important features of the measured spectra and provides insight into the nature of electronic transitions. Hydration of the ions has only a mild effect on the electronic spectra, showing the stability of the electronic structure with respect to solvation effects.

29,31- H Phthalocyanine Covalently Bonded Directly to a Si(111) Surface Retains Its Metalation Ability

The reaction of metal-free phthalocyanine molecules with a chlorine-terminated Si(111) surface is investigated to produce a phthalocyanine functionality directly attached to a semiconductor surface, without additional linkers or layers. The carefully prepared Cl-Si(111) surface provides an oxygen-free substrate that is reacted with 29,31- H phthalocyanine (H₂Pc) in a wet-chemistry process resulting in HCl elimination. The in situ metalation of this H₂Pc-modified silicon surface with cobalt is confirmed, suggesting that the produced functionality is chemically active. These processes are investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry supplemented by density functional theory calculations. The morphology of the surface is monitored by atomic force microscopy. The combined spectroscopic, microscopic, and theoretical investigations demonstrate that additional linkers are not required for phthalocyanine attachment to occur, as the direct attachment can take place by forming Si-N bonds, and that the resulting surface species can participate in a metalation process.

Self-Assembly of TbPc2 Single-Molecule Magnets on Surface through Multiple Hydrogen Bonding

The complexation between 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (UPy) and 2,7-diamido-1,8-naphthyridine (NaPy) is used to promote the mild chemisorption of a UPy-functionalized terbium(III) double decker system on a silicon surface. The adopted strategy allows the single-molecule magnet behavior of the system to be maintained unaltered on the surface.

Porphyrin molecules boost the sensitivity of epitaxial graphene for NH3 detection

The sensitivity of quasi-free standing epitaxial graphene for NH₃ detection is strongly enhanced by chemical functionalization with cobalt porphyrins resulting in a detection limit well below 100 ppb. Hybridization between NH₃ and cobalt porphyrins induces a charge transfer to graphene and results in a shift of the graphene Fermi-level as detected by Hall measurements and theoretically explained by electronic structure calculations.