Self-assembly and multistage redox chemistry of strong electron acceptors on metal surfaces: polynitrofluorenes on gold and platinum

Nitrofluoren-9-one and nitrofluoren-9-dicyanomethylene electron acceptors 7, 8, and 11 functionalized with a terminal thioctic acid unit have been synthesized from 2,4,5,7-tetranitrofluorenone. The self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of these compounds on gold, formed via gold-sulfur interaction, have been fully characterized by electrochemical, FTIR, ellipsometry, and contact angle measurements. Cyclic voltammetry of SAMs reveals two reversible single-electron reduction waves for fluorenone derivatives 7a,b and 11, and three single-electron reductions for the dicyanomethylene-fluorene 8b, providing the first observation of a radical trianion species in SAMs. The tendency of the thioctic anchor to form multilayers via disulfide links is noted.