Surface-assisted coordination chemistry and self-assembly

This article discusses different approaches to build up supramolecular nanoarchitectures on surfaces, which were simultaneously investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on the single-molecule level. Following this general road map, first, the hydrogen-bonding guided self-assembly of two different, structural-equivalent molecular building blocks, azobenzene dicarboxylic acid and stilbene dicarboxylic acid, was studied. Secondly, the coordination chemistry of the same building blocks, now acting as ligands in metal coordination reactions, towards co-sublimed Fe atoms was studied under near surface-conditions. Extended two-dimensional tetragonal network formation with unusual Fe2L4/2-dimers at the crossing points was observed on copper surfaces. Complementary to the first two experiments, a two-step approach based on the solution-based self-assembly of square-like tetranuclear complexes of the M4L4-type with subsequent deposition on graphite surfaces was investigated. One-and two-dimensional arrangements as well as single molecules of the M4L4-complexes could be observed. Moreover, the local electronic properties of a single M4L4-complexes could be probed with submolecular resolution by means of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS).