The creation of molecular electronic switches by using smart molecules is of great importance to the field of molecular electronics. This requires a fundamental understanding of the intrinsic electron transport mechanisms, which depend on several factors including the charge transport pathway, the molecule–electrode coupling strength, the energy of the molecular frontier orbitals, and the electron spin state. On the basis of significant progresses achieved in both experiments and theory over the past decade, in this review article we focus on new insights into the design and fabrication of different molecular switches and the corresponding switching effects, which is crucial to the development of molecular electronics. We summarize the strategies developed for single-molecule device fabrication and the mechanism of these switching effects. These analyses should be valuable for deeply understanding the switching effects in molecular electronic devices.

通过使用智能分子来创建分子电子开关对于分子电子领域非常重要。这需要对本征电子传输机制有基本的了解，这取决于几个因素，包括电荷传输途径，分子-电极耦合强度，分子前沿轨道的能量和电子自旋态。在过去十年中在实验和理论上取得的重大进展的基础上，本文将重点介绍对不同分子开关的设计和制造以及相应的开关效应的新见解，这对于分子电子学的发展至关重要。我们总结了为单分子器件制造开发的策略以及这些开关效应的机理。