Skip to main content

ICMAB Research

Gold bis(dithiolene) radical with fused pyrazine and dithiine rings on dithiolene ligand turns metallic under pressure
22 October 2025

A new paper has been published in Dalton Transactions:

Conducting molecular materials built on dithiolene complexes, as mixed-valence salts or single component materials, are most often based on planar structures which efficiently stack on top of each other. Herein, we report an original dithiolene ligand, namely, [1,4]dithiino[2,3-b]pyrazine-2,3-bis(thiolate) (hereafter noted as pzdtdt), which combines an electron-withdrawing pyrazine ring and a folded (by 40–50°) dithiine ring. Until now, such strong distortions from planarity have been hindering the isolation of highly conducting materials from dithiine-containing dithiolene complexes. However, in this study, we showed that the gold complex radical [Au(pzdtdt)2]˙ obtained via electrocrystallization from the 1e oxidation of [Ph4P][Au(pzdtdt)2] organized into regular, non-dimerized chains in the solid state. Interestingly, [Au(pzdtdt)2]˙ exhibited a semi-conducting behaviour at ambient pressure and turned metallic upon application of pressures above 4 GPa. The electronic structure of [Au(pzdtdt)2]˙ was investigated in terms of electron localization effects through spin-polarized band-structure calculations.

Hits: 631
M4ELC Sustainable Electronics

Gold bis(dithiolene) radical with fused pyrazine and dithiine rings on dithiolene ligand turns metallic under pressure


Kharraz, Haia; Alemany, Pere; Canadell, Enric; Roisnel, Thierry; Cui, Hengbo; Kim, Kee Hoon; Fourmigue, Marc; Lorcy, Dominique

Dalton Trans., 2025, 54, 7240–7251
DOI: 10.1039/D5DT00380F