Synthesis and immobilization of molecular switches onto titaniumdioxide nanowires

Abstract The precursor [Fe III (L)Cl (L =  N , N ′-bis(2′-hydroxy-3′-methyl-benzyliden)-1,7-diamino-4-azaheptane) is combined with [Mo(CN) 8 ] 4− yields a star shaped nona-nuclear cluster, [Mo IV {(CN)Fe III (L)} 8 ]Cl 4 . This Fe 8 Mo molecule is a high-spin system at room temperature. On cooling to 20 K some of the iron(III) centres in the molybdenum(IV)-star switch to the low-spin state as proven by Mossbauer spectroscopy. This molecule was deposited on TiO 2 nanowires by electrostatic interactions between the cluster cations and the surface functionalized titanium oxide nanowire. The synthesis and surface binding of the multistable molecular switch was demonstrated using IR and UV–Vis s…