Single molecule magnets on a gold surface: in situ electrospray deposition, x-ray absorption and photoemission

Single molecule magnets based on the dodecamanganese (III, IV) cluster with two different types of ligand (acetate and benzoate) have been studied on the Au(111) surface. Due to the non-volatile and fragile nature of the molecules, we have used ultra-high vacuum electrospray deposition to produce a series of surface coverages from a fraction of a monolayer to multilayer films in both cases. Synchrotron radiation based electron spectroscopy has been used to study the adsorption of the molecules on the Au(111) surface and the effect that this has on the oxidation states of the manganese atoms in the core. In both cases, reduction of the core is observed due to the interaction with the surface, to essentially the same extent despite substantial differences in the size and nature of the ligand shell.