| RESEARCH |
Oligomer behaves like molecular wire By tethering a zinc porphyrin to a buckyball via an oligo-p-phenylenevinylene (oPPV) chain, a European team has built a series of small-molecule electronic communication systems [Chem. Eur. J., 11, 1267 (2005)]. The group, led by Nazario Martín of Madrid's Complutense University and Dirk M. Guldi of the University of Erlangen, in Germany, designed these molecular triads (one of which is shown) to prove that -conjugated oligomers can behave like molecular wires. The zinc porphyrin moiety at one end of the molecule can act as an electron donor when it's photo- or electroexcited. The fullerene at the opposite end acts as an electron acceptor. In the ground state, there's no significant electronic communication between these two moieties. Only when the porphyrin unit is excited do the researchers observe electron transfer from one end of the molecule to the other. Martín notes that because the molecule can convert sunlight into electricity, it is a good mimic of photosynthesis. |
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