Aurophilicity derived Functional Materials for Optoelectronics and Sub-Nano Physics

• Applicant: Dr. Matthias Böge
• Subject Area: Inorganic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation ; Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 334239071

Inspired from the novel mixed-valent gold compound bis(cyclohexylnitrile)gold(I) tetrachloridoaurate(III) this project focusses on the synthesis (1) of mixed-valent gold(I/III) and (2) of gold(I) compounds, both crystallizing in chains of alternating monocationic and monoanionic gold complexes owing to aurophilic attraction, and on the determination of their physical and spectroscopic properties. The large fundament of structures with unsupported aurophilic contacts from former research and the evaluation of the secondary bonding therein enable the design of pairs of neutral and anionic ligands leading to chain-like assembly and, thus, the synthesis of tailored supramolecular gold compounds. The insights from this project will shed light on the structure-luminescence relationship of gold chains consistent of alternating cationic and anionic gold(I) and gold(I/III) complexes. The association of luminescent properties with chirality allows the development of novel chiral sensing and optoelectronic devices. Another main objective of this fellowship is the deposition of sub-nano wires of atomic gold or three-dimensional networks of atomic gold wires within the ordered cavities of mesoporous carbon and metal-organic frameworks. The realization of gold(0) nanowires with a width of 1-2 atoms is still limited to AFM- and STM-based atom manipulation techniques. Such atomic structures are of high interest for fundamental measurements, e.g. quantum conductance, the quantum Hall effect and magnetic interaction on an atomic scale.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Spain
• Host: Professorin Dr. Maria Concepción Gimeno