On-surface synthesis of gold–coronene molecular wires

Abstract

Perchlorocoronene undergoes random dehalogenation at elevated temperatures, resulting in the formation of a disordered gold–coronene complex on Au(111) surfaces. The dehalogenation can be guided by introducing intermolecular constraint from accompanying molecules coexisting on the surface. Owing to the intermolecular electrostatic interactions, gold–coronene wires are intercalated between the polyphenylene chains, which hinders the transverse dehalogenation and results in an improved tendency toward linear gold–coronene molecular wires.