Abstract

Cumulenes and polyynes have the potential to be applied as linear, sp-hybridized, one-dimensional all-carbon nanowires in molecular electronics and optoelectronics. The delocalization and conductivity descriptors of the two π-conjugated systems, heterodisubstituted with the NO₂, CN, NH₂, and OH groups, were studied using the B3LYP, B3LYP/D3, CAM-B3LYP, and ωB97XD DFT functionals, combined with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. Three independent types of molecular descriptors, based on geometry (the HOMA index), electrical properties (trace of the polarizability tensor), and energetic (the HOMO-LUMO energy gap) were shown to be mutually correlated and provided concordant indication that communication through the cumulene chain was considerably better than through the polyyne one. The communication can be tuned by using substituents of significantly different π-electron donor-acceptor properties as well as by the external electric field directed along the carbon chain.