Controlling electron exchange in molecular assemblies

This review covers aspects of research conducted within the Molecular Photonics Laboratory at Newcastle University over the past 5 years. The research seeks to control the dynamics and direction of electron-exchange processes taking place in donor-spacer-acceptor molecular assemblies, where both donor and acceptor are transition metal poly(pyridine) complexes. Attention is focused on three key themes; namely, how the conforrnation of a biphenyl unit modulates the rate of triplet-energy transfer along the molecular axis, how to promote rapid triplet-energy transferalong the molecular axis, and how to direct electron exchange along a preferred pathway. The work is part of a larger project seeking to build artificial neural networks operating under light illumination. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.