Dihydroxy(4-thiomorpholinomethyl)benzoic acid: from molecular asymmetry to diode characteristics.

One of the challenges in molecular electronics is to design molecules which can be used as functional units in electronic devices. The subject of our investigations is an asymmetrical molecule, dihydroxy(4-thiomorpholinomethyl)benzoic acid (TMBA), whose structural and electronic properties are characterized. The self-assembly behavior of TMBA on Au(111) surfaces resulting in highly ordered monolayers is obtained using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Hierarchical self-assembly of metallo-dendrimers.

2,3-Dihydroxybenzylic esters with Frechet-type dendritic branches as the alcohol component form, in a hierarchical self-assembly process, disk shaped dendrimers when titanium(IV) and lithium ions are added.

Dicatechol cis-dioxomolybdenum(VI): a building block for a lithium cation templated monomer-dimer equilibrium.

Dinuclear helicate-type complexes form from 3-carbonyl catechol derivatives and MoO2 units. The two monomeric subunits are non-covalently bound through templating Li+ ions. The monomeric and dimeric complexes as well as a hydrolysis product have been investigated in the solid state by X-ray crystallography, in solution by NMR experiments, and in the gas phase by ESI mass spectrometry.