Functional oligothiophenes toward molecular wires in single-molecular electronics

Ie, Yutaka; Endou, Masaru; Han, Aihong; Yamada, Ryo; Tada, Hirokazu; Aso, Yoshio

doi:10.1351/PAC-CON-11-10-26

Pure Appl. Chem., 2012, Vol. 84, No. 4, pp. 931-943

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-11-10-26

Published online 2012-03-20

Functional oligothiophenes toward molecular wires in single-molecular electronics

Yutaka Ie^1,2, Masaru Endou², Aihong Han³, Ryo Yamada⁴, Hirokazu Tada⁴ and Yoshio Aso²*

¹ PREST-JST, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 333-0012, Japan
² The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
³ College of Chemistry and Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, 253, Norther Huanghe Street, Huanggu District, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110034, China
⁴ Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3, Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan

Abstract: The synthesis of 3-hexylthiophene-based oligothiophenes with a length of approximately 10 nm bearing anchor units at both terminal positions has been accomplished. In addition, we have designed and synthesized completely encapsulated oligothiophenes to investigate single-molecule conductance. Their properties are evaluated by UV–vis absorption spectra and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The conductance of a single-molecule junction for thiol-introduced oligothiophenes was measured by 10-nm-scale nanogap gold electrodes or modified scanning tunneling microscope (STM) techniques.