Synthetic and theoretical studies of metal complexes containing carbon-rich ligands

我的小组先前的研究，与法国雷恩大学的合成和理论化学小组合作，已经描绘了一系列含有连接两个金属中心的碳链的配合物的性质。在对通过碳链在金属中心之间产生良好电子通信的特征取得部分理解之后，本提案寻求将这种合作扩展到进一步的研究中，通过使用存在两个或更多不同金属中心的化合物，产生实际电子交换可以发生的相关化合物，即导致氧化/还原。这可能会导致纳米器件的发展，例如分子尺度开关。如果其中一个中心被光激活，就会产生光主动传感器。

Previous studies in my group, in conjunction with synthetic and theoretical chemistry groups at the Université de Rennes 1, France, have delineated the properties of a series of complexes containing carbon chains linking two metal centres. Having achieved a partial understanding of the features which result in good electronic communication between the metal centres via the carbon chain, the present proposal seeks to extend this collaboration to further studies which will generate related compounds in which actual eletron exchange can occur, i.e. leading to oxidation/reduction, by using compounds in which two or more different metal centres are present. This may lead to development of nano devices, e.g. molecular-scale switches. If one of the centres is activated by light, a photo-active sensor may result.