Guest selectivity in the supramolecular host networks fabricated by van der Waals force and hydrogen bond

Here, the structural transformations of H4ETTC induced by coronene (COR) and selective adsorption behaviors of COR in different templates were investigated by scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). It was discovered that the assembled architecture of H4ETTC at the HOPG/ heptanoic acid interface depended on the concentration of COR, and the clusters of COR were obtained in the kagome nanoporous network of H4ETTC molecules at a high concentration of COR solution. In addition, COR clusters can also be formed in the hexagonal porous structure of hexaphenylbenzene (HPB) molecules modified by alkyl chains at the HOPG/heptanoic acid interface. When both H4ETTC and HPB assembly structures, based on hydrogen bonding and van der Waals force respectively, were selected as the host templates, COR showed selectivity for HPB template to form HPB/COR hexagonal host-guest architecture. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also performed to disclose the mechanisms involved.