Bistable electrochemical switching

A Redox and Chemically Controllable Bistable Neutral [2]Rotaxane 8.4.3.1 Electrochemical Switching... 

Positional changes of atoms in a molecule or supermolecule correspond on the molecular scale to mechanical processes at the macroscopic level. One may therefore imagine the engineering of molecular machines that would be thermally, photochem-ically or electrochemically activated [1.7,1.9,8.3,8.109,8.278]. Mechanical switching processes consist of the reversible conversion of a bistable (or multistable) entity between two (or more) structurally or conformationally different states. Hindered internal rotation, configurational changes (for instance, cis-trans isomerization in azobenzene derivatives), intercomponent reorientations in supramolecular species (see Section 4.5) embody mechanical aspects of molecular behaviour. 

Fig. 8.13 An electrochemical and chemical (Li+ ion) switching in a neutral bistable [2]rotaxane, 12.

So far, several example of the chemically and electrochemically controlled switching of bistable linear molecular machines have been presented. The final section of this chapter will be dedicated to illustrating how such molecular switches and motors, when designed ingenuously, can also be powered by nature s most abundant and powerful energy source - light. 

Stoddart and co-workers have developed molecular switch tunnel junctions [172] based on a [2]rotaxane, sandwiched between silicon and metallic electrodes. The rotaxane bears a cyclophane that shuttles along the molecular string toward the electrode and back again driven by an electrochemical translation. They used electrochemical measurements at various temperatures [173] to quantify the switching process of molecules not only in solution, but also in self-assembled monolayers and in a polymer electrolyte gel. Independent of the environment (solution, self-assembled monolayer or solid-state polymer gel), but also of the molecular structure - rotaxane or catenane - a single and generic switching mechanism is observed for all bistable molecules [173]. 

The luminescence of the excited metal complex 1 is quenched by the lower-energy quinone moiety. Once the quinone is electrochemically reduced to hydroquinone, the luminescence is restored, because the hydroquinone is unable to quench the luminescence of the excited metal complex. In turn, the hydroquinone can be switched back by oxidation to the quinone, and quenching of the luminescence is restored. The electrochemical interconversion of both species was shown to be fully reversible, and both the oxidized and reduced forms are isolable and stable. In the simplest form, this system can be regarded as a bistable (on/off) electrophotoswitch. 

Bistable [2]rotaxanes (Figure 40) that could be switched between the two binding states by electrochemical stimuli based on the oxidation and reduction of TTF unit were also developed by the same group. The cyclophane resides... 

Early in 1994, Kaifer, Stoddart, and coworkers reported the first bistable molecular shuttle (Figure 70) based on a [2]rotaxane driven by chemical and electrochemical stimuli. The [2]rotaxane comprised a CBPQ U+ ring threaded by an axle consisting of two binding sites, benzidine and biphenol units. Under redox reactions and the addition of acid or base, the CBPQT + ring moves back and forth along the axle. This molecnlar shuttle can be switched by two different mechanisms and is a good candidate for the construction of complex molecular machines. 

Stoddart et al. also incorporated a bistable [2]catenane (Figure 39) into macromolecules to form a side-chain poly[2]catenane (Figure 82). This poly[2]catenane could also behave as a molecular switch that can be addressed in an on or off state electrochemically by the virtue of the redox properties of the TTF moiety. Furthermore, the switching properties remain even in spherical aggregates. This stndy provides a good mechanically interlocked switchable polymeric scaffold for the construction of solid-state molecular electronic devices. 

Like rotaxanes, catenanes are mechanically interlocked molecules. However, instead of interlocking one ring shaped macrocycle and a dumbbell shape, catenanes consist of interlocked macrocycles. The number of macrocycles contained in a catenane is indicated by the numeral that precedes it. Catenanes have bistable and multistable forms and a switchable, bistable [2]catenane is commonly exploited in nanotechnology and molecular electronics because its behavior can be controlled by electrochemical processes [89]. Collier et al. was the first to demonstrate the electroactivity of interlocked catenanes [90]. The authors affixed phospholipid counterions to a monolayer of [2]catenanes and then sandwiched this system between two electrodes. This work resulted in a molecular switching device that opened at a positive potential of 2 V and closed at a negative potential of 2 V. 

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