Patent ID: 7189433

Claim:
A process for preparing a film having alternating monolayers of a metal-metal bonded complex monolayer and an organic monolayer by layer-by-layer growth, said process comprising: (1) applying onto a surface of a substrate a first linker compound represented by the formula: G1-Linkera a -G2 to produce a primer layer of said first linker compound on said substrate, wherein G1 is a functional group capable of interacting with said surface of said substrate; G2 is a functional group capable of interacting with a metal-metal bonded complex; and Linker a is a difunctional organic group bonded to G1 and G2; (2) applying onto said primer layer a layer of a metal-metal bonded complex to produce a metal-metal bonded complex monolayer on said primer layer; said metal-metal bonded complex being selected from the group consisting of compounds represented by the following formulas: and a combination thereof; wherein: L ax is an axial ligland; L eq is an equatorial ligand; wherein two equatorial ligands together form a bidentate ligand Q W wherein each Q W is independently selected from the group consisting of: N N, N O, O N, N S, S N, N P, P N, O S, S O, O O, P P and S S ligands; Ligands: M is a transition metal; wherein is a bridging group each selected independently from the group consisting of: SO 4 2− , MoO 4 2− , WO 4 2− , and a dicarboxylate; and (3) applying onto said metal-metal bonded complex monolayer a second linker compound represented by the formula: G3-Linker b -G4 to produce on said metal-metal bonded complex monolayer an organic monolayer; wherein G3 and G4 are the same or different functional groups capable of interacting with a metal-metal bonded complex; and Linker b is a single bond or a difunctional organic group bonded to G3 and G4; and optionally (4) sequentially repeating steps (2) and (3) at least once to produce said layer-by-layer grown film having alternating monolayers of a metal-metal complex monolayer and an organic monolayer.