Persistent radicals in mixed-valence chemistry and molecular electronics

Radicals feature an open-shell electronic structure with a range of properties arising from the presence of unpaired electrons. When radical species are incorporated in a metal|molecule|metal junction, the presence of a singly occupied molecular orbital is proposed to result in sharp transport resonances in the transmission function T(E) near the Fermi level of electrodes, a desired feature in molecular electronics. However, due to the highly reactive nature of radicals, these paramagnetic systems are rarely explored under ambient conditions. This study focuses on the synthesis, structure, and electronic and electrical properties of persistent organic and organometallic radicals for molecular electronics applications.