Electronic Modulation of the SOMO-HOMO Energy Gap in Iron(III) Complexes towards Unimolecular Current Rectification.
Lanka D WickramasingheShivnath MazumderKenneth K KpogoRichard J StaplesH Bernhard SchlegelCláudio N VeraniPublished in: Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) (2016)
Amphiphilic five-coordinate iron(III) complexes with {N2 O2 Cl} and {N2 O3 } coordination spheres are studied to elucidate the roles of electronic structure on the mechanisms for current rectification. The presence of an apical chlorido or phenolato ligand plays a crucial role, and the [Fe(III) {N2 O2 Cl}] species supports an asymmetric mechanism while its [Fe(III) {N2 O3 }] counterpart seems to allow for unimolecular mechanism. The effects of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents in the ligand frameworks are also considered.