Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 11, 2026

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework
Published on: April 9, 2018
Single-Molecule Conductance Studies of Organometallic Complexes Bearing 3-Thienyl Contacting Groups
Sören Bock1, Oday A Al-Owaedi2,3, Samantha G Eaves1,4
1School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009, WA, Australia.
Abstract:
The compounds and complexes 1,4-C6 H4 (C≡C-cyclo-3-C4 H3 S)2 (2), trans-[Pt(C≡C-cyclo-3-C4 H3 S)2 (PEt3 )2 ] (3), trans-[Ru(C≡C-cyclo-3-C4 H3 S)2 (dppe)2 ] (4; dppe=1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) and trans-[Ru(C≡C-cyclo-3-C4 H3 S)2 {P(OEt)3 }4 ] (5) featuring the 3-thienyl moiety as a surface contacting group for gold electrodes have been prepared, crystallographically characterised in the case of 3-5 and studied in metal|molecule|metal junctions by using both scanning tunnelling microscope break-junction (STM-BJ) and STM-I(s) methods (measuring the tunnelling current (I) as a function of distance (s)). The compounds exhibit similar conductance profiles, with a low conductance feature being more readily identified by STM-I(s) methods, and a higher feature by the STM-BJ method. The lower conductance feature was further characterised by analysis using an unsupervised, automated multi-parameter vector classification (MPVC) of the conductance traces. The combination of similarly structured HOMOs and non-resonant tunnelling mechanism accounts for the remarkably similar conductance values across the chemically distinct members of the family 2-5.
Related Concept Videos
Properties of Organometallic Compounds
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Complexometric Titration: Ligands
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
Valence Bond Theory
Formation of Complex Ions

