Surface junction effects on the electron conduction of molecular wires

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja910462x

Surface junction effects on the electron conduction of p -phenylene-bridged bis(terpyridine)iron oligomers terminated with a ferrocene moiety were quantitatively analyzed by employing three different surface-anchoring terpyridine ligands. The dependence of the electron-transfer rate constant for oxidation of the ferrocene moiety, k _et, on the distance between the electrode surface and the ferrocene moiety, x , showed that the attenuation factor, β^d, which indicates the degree of reduction of k _et with x , was 0.018 in all cases. However, the absolute k _et value depended strongly on both electronic and steric factors of the surface-anchoring ligand.