Accelerating electron transfer in molecular arrays could have implications for molecular electronic devices and artificial photosynthesis, chemists in France and Sweden say.

Scientists are developing molecular arrays, consisting of an electron donor component linked to an electron acceptor, to capture and convert solar energy. Changing the way that the electron donor and acceptor are connected can dramatically speed up the electron transfer process, according to Fabrice Odobel at the University of Nantes, Leif Hammarström at Uppsala University, and colleagues.

Naphthalenebisimide (NBI) has often been used as an electron acceptor in molecular arrays - but until now, has only been connected to the electron donor through the nitrogen atom. Now Hammarström and Odobel have connected NBI through a carbon atom of the naphtyl core, and found that the electron transfer is 1000-fold faster. The scientists attribute the effect to better frontier orbital interactions.

The next challenge in the area will be 'to control the net function of larger, multi-component molecular assemblies,' said Hammarström.

James Mitchell Crow