SAMs of shape-persistent macrocycles: structure and binding on HOPG and Au(111)

Shape-persistent linear, kinked, and cyclic oligo(phenylene-ethynylene-butadiynylene)s: self-assembled monolayers

Shape-persistent rigid phenylene-ethynylene-butadiynylenes form lamellar self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) at the HOPG/TCB interface, which were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with submolecular resolution. Substitution of the terminating acetylene functions with polar cyanopropyldimethylsilyl groups leads to 2D phase separation and defined rod-rod interactions, which determine the packing distances between the rigid rods. The results stimulated the connection of rigid rods via septiarylene clamp units. They covalently link two rigid rod units and define the intramolecular rod-rod distance that matches the alkoxy substituent chain lengths. The systems can be described as half-ring structures of two rigid rods connected via a rotatable joint unit. These acetylene-terminated half-ring structures were also oligomerized under Cu and Pd catalysis to yield defined acyclic and cyclic oligomers. Detailed STM studies decoded the molecular origin of the surface patterning of such systems. The dodecyloxy side chains are adsorbed along the HOPG main axes and, together with the alkoxy backbone angle, determine the adsorption direction of the adlayers.

Synthesis and adsorption of shape-persistent macrocycles containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the rigid framework

Shape-persistent macrocycles with interiors in the nanometer regime were prepared by the oxidative cyclization of the appropriate bisacetylene precursors under high-dilution conditions. These compounds contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ring backbone and are decorated with extra annular oligoalkyl or silyl side groups. Interestingly, after depositing them on different surfaces and investigating the self-assembled structures by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), various nanostructures were observed. STM showed that these macrocycles are organized in two-dimensional (2D) layers, whereas AFM showed, in addition, the formation of 2D crystallites and one-dimensional fibrils. These results reveal the importance of the extra annular substitution of the macrocycles in creating patterned surfaces and nanoscale objects.

2D Supramolecular Structures of a Shape-Persistent Macrocycle and Co-deposition with Fullerene on HOPG

Two 2D supramolecular structures of macrocycle 1 and 1/C60 have been obtained on HOPG by self-assembly under ambient conditions and investigated by high-resolution STM. The monolayers of 1 are characterized by structures with perfect ordering over relatively large areas. In the case of 1/C60, the size of the macrocycle 1 and the presence of two individual bithiophene units per ring lead in the final superstructure to a 1:2 stoichiometry. The fullerenes are not trapped at the graphite surface inside the macrocyclic holes but are located around the periphery of the bithiophene units. This clearly shows that the donor-acceptor interaction between C60 and the electron-rich units of the ring is the dominant factor for the structure formation.