Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.112, No.50, 16070-16075, 2008
Enhanced Conductance via Induced II-Stacking Interactions in Cobalt(II) Terpyridine Bridged Complexes
Computational model systems are used to explore improving the transmission through a molecular device based on bridged cobalt(II) complexes. The bridging ligands and the organic conjugated molecular ligands are altered to improve the current flow through both an enhanced pi-stacking interaction as well as involving the metal ions directly in the conduction pathway. With terpyridine as the organic ligand, both acetate and NH2- produce conductive devices, while a terpyridine complex bridged by Cl- is not conductive. The addition of a fused ring on either end of the conjugated molecule has a complex effect which is sensitive to the bridged ligand and the particular geometry of the complex.