/pdf/self-assembled-monolayers-of-thiolates-on-metals-as-a-form-1neb0hj3k4.pdf

Self-assembled monolayers of thiolates on metals as a form of nanotechnology.

The field of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) has witnessed tremendous growth in synthetic sophistication and depth of characterization over the past 15 years.1 However, it is interesting to comment on the modest beginning and on important milestones. The field really began much earlier than is now recognized. In 1946 Zisman published the preparation of a monomolecular layer by adsorption (self-assembly) of a surfactant onto a clean metal surface.2 At that time, the potential of self-assembly was not recognized, and this publication initiated only a limited level of interest. Early work initiated in Kuhn’s laboratory at Gottingen, applying many years of experience in using chlorosilane derivative to hydrophobize glass, was followed by the more recent discovery, when Nuzzo and Allara showed that SAMs of alkanethiolates on gold can be prepared by adsorption of di-n-alkyl disulfides from dilute solutions.3 Getting away from the moisture-sensitive alkyl trichlorosilanes, as well as working with crystalline gold surfaces, were two important reasons for the success of these SAMs. Many self-assembly systems have since been investigated, but monolayers of alkanethiolates on gold are probably the most studied SAMs to date. The formation of monolayers by self-assembly of surfactant molecules at surfaces is one example of the general phenomena of self-assembly. In nature, self-assembly results in supermolecular hierarchical organizations of interlocking components that provides very complex systems.4 SAMs offer unique opportunities to increase fundamental understanding of self-organization, structure-property relationships, and interfacial phenomena. The ability to tailor both head and tail groups of the constituent molecules makes SAMs excellent systems for a more fundamental understanding of phenomena affected by competing intermolecular, molecular-substrates and molecule-solvent interactions like ordering and growth, wetting, adhesion, lubrication, and corrosion. That SAMs are well-defined and accessible makes them good model systems for studies of physical chemistry and statistical physics in two dimensions, and the crossover to three dimensions. SAMs provide the needed design flexibility, both at the individual molecular and at the material levels, and offer a vehicle for investigation of specific interactions at interfaces, and of the effect of increasing molecular complexity on the structure and stability of two-dimensional assemblies. These studies may eventually produce the design capabilities needed for assemblies of three-dimensional structures.5 However, this will require studies of more complex systems and the combination of what has been learned from SAMs with macromolecular science. The exponential growth in SAM research is a demonstration of the changes chemistry as a disciAbraham Ulman was born in Haifa, Israel, in 1946. He studied chemistry in the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, and received his B.Sc. in 1969. He received his M.Sc. in phosphorus chemistry from Bar-Ilan University in 1971. After a brief period in industry, he moved to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, and received his Ph.D. in 1978 for work on heterosubstituted porphyrins. He then spent two years at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where his main interest was onedimensional organic conductors. In 1985 he joined the Corporate Research Laboratories of Eastman Kodak Company, in Rochester, NY, where his research interests were molecular design of materials for nonlinear optics and self-assembled monolayers. In 1994 he moved to Polytechnic University where he is the Alstadt-Lord-Mark Professor of Chemistry. His interests encompass self-assembled monolayers, surface engineering, polymers at interface, and surfaces phenomena. 1533 Chem. Rev. 1996, 96, 1533−1554

/pdf/formation-and-structure-of-self-assembled-monolayers-5eorfomxfu.pdf

Formation and Structure of Self-Assembled Monolayers.

The rate constant of the electron-transfer reaction between a gold electrode and an electroactive ferrocene group has been measured at a structurally well-defined metal-electrolyte interface at temperatures from 1 degrees to 47 degrees C and reaction free energies from -1.0 to +0.8 electron volts (eV). The ferrocene group was positioned a fixed distance from the gold surface by the self-assembly of a mixed thiol monolayer of (eta(5)C(5)H(5))Fe(eta(5)C(5)H(4))CO(2)(CH(2))(16)SH and CH(3)(CH(2))(15)SH. Rate constants from 1 per second (s(-1)) to 2 x 10(4) s(-1) in 1 molar HClO(4) are reasonably fit with a reorganization energy of 0.85 eV and a prefactor for electron tunneling of 7 x 10(4) s(-1) eV(-1). Such self-assembled monolayers can be used to systematically probe the dependence of electron-transfer rates on distance, medium, and spacer structure, and to provide an empirical basis for the construction of interfacial devices such as sensors and transducers that utilize macroscopically directional electron-transfer reactions.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/251/4996/919.full.pdf

Free Energy and Temperature Dependence of Electron Transfer at the Metal-Electrolyte Interface

The electrochemical desorption of n-alkanethiol monolayers from polycrystalline Au and Ag electrodes

Patterning self-assembled monolayers

Self-assembled monolayers provide an ideal system for disentangling the fundamental events in interfacial electron transfer. Coadsorption of ferrocene-terminated alkanethiols with unsubstituted n-alkanethiols on evaporated gold films yields stable, electroactive self-assembled monolayers. Monolayers containing low concentrations of alkanethiols linked to ferrocene by a polar ester group (FcCO{sub 2}(CH{sub 2}){sub n}SH, Fc = ({eta}{sup 5}-C{sub 5}H{sub 5})Fe({eta}{sup 5}-C{sub 5}H{sub 4})) show thermodynamically ideal surface electrochemistry in 1 M HClO{sub 4}, indicating the ferrocene groups to be homogeneous and noninteracting. Higher surface concentrations or use of alkanethiols linked directly to the nonpolar ferrocene group (Fc(CH{sub 2}){sub n}SH) lead to broadened electrochemical features, indicating interactions among ferrocene groups or inhomogeneous sites. Longer chain lengths and lower ferrocene surface concentrations result in slower electron-transfer kinetics with the ferrocene groups. A fraction of the thiols in a monolayer exchange with thiols in an ethanol solution, but much of the monolayer remains unequilibrated after 10 days.

A. M. Mujsce

Papers

Coadsorption of ferrocene-terminated and unsubstituted alkanethiols on gold: electroactive self-assembled monolayers