We report on seven new ferrocenyl-(1, 3)- and ferrocenylethynyl-modified N,N′,N″-triethyltriazatruxenes
(
Et
TATs) 4–7 as well as the dodecyl counterpart 2 of compound 1 and their use as molecular switching units when deposited
on a Ag(111) surface. Such functional units may constitute a new approach
to molecule-based high-density information storage and processing.
Besides the five compounds 1–3, 6, and 7, where the 3-fold rotational symmetry
of the triazatruxene (TAT) template is preserved, we also included
2-ethynylferrocenyl-TAT 4 and 2,2′-di(ethynylferrocenyl)-TAT 5, whose mono- and disubstitution patterns break the 3-fold
symmetry of the TAT core. Voltammetric studies indicate that the ferrocenyl
residues of compounds 1–7 oxidize
prior to the oxidation of the TAT core. We have noted strong electrostatic
effects on TAT oxidation in the 2,2′,2″-triferrocenyl-TAT
derivatives 1 and 2 and the 3,3′,3″-isomer 3. The oxidized complexes feature multiple electronic excitations
in the near-infrared and the visible spectra, which are assigned to
dδ/δ*
transitions of the ferrocenium
(Fc+) moieties, as well as TAT → Fc+ charge-transfer
transitions. The latter are augmented by intervalence charge-transfer
contributions Fc → Fc+ in mixed-valent states, where
only a part of the available ferrocenyl residues is oxidized.
Et
TAT was previously identified as
a directional three-level switching unit when deposited on Ag(111)
and constitutes a trinary-digit unit for on-surface information storage.
The symmetrically trisubstituted compound 6 retains this
property, albeit at somewhat reduced switching rates due to the additional
interaction between the ferrocenyl residues and the Ag surface. In
particular, the high directionality at low bias and the inversion
of the preferred sense of the on-surface rocking motion with either
a clockwise or counterclockwise switching sense, depending on the
identity of the surface enantiomer, are preserved. Unsymmetrical substitution
in mono- and diferrocenylated 4 and 5 alters
the underlying ratchet potential in a manner such that a two-state
switching between the two degenerate surface conformations of 4 or a pronounced suppression of switching (5) is observed.