Radially controlled redox modulated gold nanoparticles

ORGN 574

Ali Bayir1, Roy Shenhar2, S. Q. Alam1, and Vincent Rotello2. (1) Chemistry, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 701 Lederle Graduate Research Tower A, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, (2) Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Mixed Monolayer Protected Gold Clusters (MMPCs) are nanoscopic entities that provide a building block for microscale constructs. Functionalized MMPCs also provide a scaffold for the attachment of molecular devices, providing a platform for the construction of functional nanoscopic systems. To this end, MMPCs containing redox-active and aromatic pi-stacking functionalities have been synthesized. Redox modulation of these functionalities is observed to have a radial dependence due to the decrease in pre-organization with increasing donor-acceptor distance from the nanoparticle core. These radially controlled redox modulated MMPCs provides a model for molecular devices such as organic semiconductors, light harvesting devices and molecular magnets.