title: Single-molecule junctions based on nitrile-terminated biphenyls: a promising new anchoring group.
abstract: We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the electronic transport through single-molecule junctions based on nitrile-terminated biphenyl derivatives. Using a scanning tunneling microscope-based break-junction technique, we show that the nitrile-terminated compounds give rise to well-defined peaks in the conductance histograms resulting from the high selectivity of the N-Au binding. Ab initio calculations have revealed that the transport takes place through the tail of the LUMO. Furthermore, we have found both theoretically and experimentally that the conductance of the molecular junctions is roughly proportional to the square of the cosine of the torsion angle between the two benzene rings of the biphenyl core, which demonstrates the robustness of this structure-conductance relationship.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Artem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishchenko
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Zotti
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vonlanthen
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bürkle
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayor
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wandlowski
mesh_terms: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory
chemical_list: D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D009570:Nitriles