Electronic and Vibrational Properties of Diamondoid Oligomers

We analyzed the vibrational and electronic properties of diamondoid oligomers via resonance Raman spectroscopy. The compounds consist of lower diamondoids such as adamantane or diamantane that are interconnected with double bonds, Therefore, all oligomers have ethylene-like centers strongly influencing the character of the optical transitions. The double bond localizes the HOMO (highest occupied moluecular orbital) in between the diamondoids accompanied by a significant decrease of optical transition energies. Comparing Raman spectra of the compounds to pristine diamondoids, we find several characteristic modes originating from the ethylene moieties. Supported by DFT (density functional theory) computations, we attribute these modes to highly localized vibrations that can partially be derived from the vibrational modes of parent ethylene. We further observe two new Raman modes in the compounds: a dimer breathing mode and a rotational mode of the entire ethylene moieties.