How substituents tune quantum interference in meta-OPE3 molecular junctions to control thermoelectric transport

Abstract

Quantum interference (QI) can strongly affect electric and thermoelectric properties of molecular junctions (MJs). So far, however, a limited number of experimental studies have explored the influence of QI on thermoelectric transport in MJs. To address this open point, we synthesized derivatives of meta-OPE3 with an electron-withdrawing nitro (–NO₂) substituent or an electron-donating N,N-dimethyl amine (–NMe₂) substituent, attached at two different positions of the central phenylene ring, and systematically studied the electrical conductance and thermopower of the corresponding gold–molecule–gold junctions. We show that (i) the electrical conductance of MJs depends weakly on the polarity of the substituents but strongly on the substitution position and (ii) MJs with the N,N-dimethyl amine group feature a higher thermopower than MJs with the nitro group. We also present calculations based on first principles, which explain these trends and show that the transport properties are highly sensitive to microscopic details in junctions, exhibiting destructive QI features.