title: Surface tectonics of nanoporous networks of melamine-capped molecular building blocks formed through interface Schiff-base reactions.
abstract: Control over the assembly of molecules on a surface is of great importance for the fabrication of molecule-based miniature devices. Melamine (MA) and molecules with terminal MA units are promising candidates for supramolecular interfacial packing patterning, owing to their multiple hydrogen-bonding sites. Herein, we report the formation of self-assembled structures of MA-capped molecules through a simple on-surface synthetic route. MA terminal groups were successfully fabricated onto rigid molecular cores with 2-fold and 3-fold symmetry through interfacial Schiff-base reactions between MA and aldehyde groups. Sub-molecular scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging of the resultant adlayer revealed the formation of nanoporous networks. Detailed structural analysis indicated that strong hydrogen-bonding interactions between the MA groups persistently drove the formation of nanoporous networks. Herein, we demonstrate that functional groups with strong hydrogen-bond-formation ability are promising building blocks for the guided assembly of nanoporous networks and other hierarchical 2D assemblies.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100190 (P. R. China); Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P. R. China), Fax: (+86) 10-62558934; Graduate University of CAS, Beijing 100490 (P. R. China).
authors.forename: Xuan-He
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Wan
keywords: interfaces; nanostructures; porous materials; scanning probe microscopy; self-assembly