Single-molecule detection of dihydroazulene photo-thermal reaction using break junction technique

Cancan Huang, Martyn Jevric, Anders Borges, Stine T. Olsen, Joseph M. Hamill, Jue-Ting Zheng, Yang Yang, Alexander Rudnev, Masoud Baghernejad, Peter Broekmann, Anne Ugleholdt Petersen, Thomas Wandlowski, Kurt V. Mikkelsen (), Gemma C. Solomon (), Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen () and Wenjing Hong ()
Additional contact information
Cancan Huang: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid States, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Xiamen University
Martyn Jevric: University of Copenhagen
Anders Borges: University of Copenhagen
Stine T. Olsen: University of Copenhagen
Joseph M. Hamill: University of Bern
Jue-Ting Zheng: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid States, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Xiamen University
Yang Yang: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid States, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Xiamen University
Alexander Rudnev: University of Bern
Masoud Baghernejad: University of Bern
Peter Broekmann: University of Bern
Anne Ugleholdt Petersen: University of Copenhagen
Thomas Wandlowski: University of Bern
Kurt V. Mikkelsen: University of Copenhagen
Gemma C. Solomon: University of Copenhagen
Mogens Brøndsted Nielsen: University of Copenhagen
Wenjing Hong: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid States, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Xiamen University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Charge transport by tunnelling is one of the most ubiquitous elementary processes in nature. Small structural changes in a molecular junction can lead to significant difference in the single-molecule electronic properties, offering a tremendous opportunity to examine a reaction on the single-molecule scale by monitoring the conductance changes. Here, we explore the potential of the single-molecule break junction technique in the detection of photo-thermal reaction processes of a photochromic dihydroazulene/vinylheptafulvene system. Statistical analysis of the break junction experiments provides a quantitative approach for probing the reaction kinetics and reversibility, including the occurrence of isomerization during the reaction. The product ratios observed when switching the system in the junction does not follow those observed in solution studies (both experiment and theory), suggesting that the junction environment was perturbing the process significantly. This study opens the possibility of using nano-structured environments like molecular junctions to tailor product ratios in chemical reactions.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15436

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