Structural Gating Enhances Long-Distance Light-Driven Interfacial Electron Transfer.

Structural gating provides a molecular means to transfer electrons preferentially in one desired vectorial direction, a behavior needed for applications in artificial photosynthesis. At the interfaces utilized herein, visible-light absorption by a transition metal complex a "structural gate" by planarization of otherwise rotating phenyl rings in phenylene ethynylene (PE) bridge units. Planarization provides a conjugated pathway for electron flow toward a conductive oxide surface.