A tripodal molecule on a gold surface: orientation-dependent coupling and electronic properties of the molecular legs.

The realization of molecular electronics demands a detailed knowledge of the correlation between chemical groups and electronic function. It has become obvious during the last years that the conformation of a molecule and its coupling to the connecting electrodes plays a crucial role in its conductance behavior and its electronic function, e.g.

Isolated facial and meridional tris(bipyridine)Ru(II) for STM studies on Au(111).

Tripodal facial and meridional Ru(II) complexes comprising three conjugated legs with acetyl-protected thiol end groups are designed, synthesized and isolated for investigation on a gold surface. Preliminary ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunnelling microscopy (UHV STM) measurements of a monolayer of facial isomer deposited on Au(111) are presented.