Abstract

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The dream of building integrated circuits from single-molecule electronic components has been discussed since the 1970s, as the ultimate in miniaturisation. It is still a remote prospect, but there have been dramatic advances in our ability to synthesise molecular wires and test their charge-transport behaviour. This lecture will present some of my group’s recent research on the design, synthesis and characterisation of molecular wires. This includes both linear wires, which mediate charge-transport over several nm with high conductance, and molecular wire nanorings, which exhibit aromatic or antiaromatic ring currents. Aromaticity was once thought to be limited to small molecules, but we have shown that it extends to rings with circuits of at least 162 π-electrons, as demonstrated by studies of a 12-porphyrin nanoring. One day, it may be possible to use structures of this type as single-molecule electronic devices.