Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Oxidative Acetylenic Coupling Reactions As A Surface Chemistry Tool, Simone Ciampi, Michael James, Nadim A. Darwish, Erwann Luais, Bin Guan, Jason Brian Harper, J Justin Gooding

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

A novel method to prepare redox monolayers on silicon electrodes has been developed that employs CuI-catalyzed oxidative acetylenic coupling reactions for molecular electronic type applications. As the first case study, ethynylferrocene was covalently immobilized onto an acetylene-terminated monolayer on a Si(100) surface to give a 1,3-diyne (CC-CC-) linked redox assembly. The derivatization process requires no protection/de-protection steps, nor activation procedures. The effect of the conjugated diyne linkage on the rate of electron transfer between tethered ferrocenyl units and the silicon electrode is benchmarked against well-established "click" products (i.e. 1,2,3-triazole linkage). The surfaces, after each step, are characterized thoroughly using X-ray …