title: Formation of polyphenyl chains through hierarchical reactions: Ullmann coupling followed by cross-dehydrogenative coupling.
abstract: From an interplay of UHV-STM imaging and DFT calculations, we have illustrated on-surface formation of polyphenyl chains through a hierarchical reaction pathway involving two different kinds of reactions (Ullmann coupling and cross-dehydrogenative coupling), which will provide a deeper understanding of on-surface chemical reactions and an alternative and efficient strategy to fabricate desired surface molecular nanostructures.
authors.affiliation: Tongji-Aarhus Joint Research Center for Nanostructures and Functional Nanomaterials and College of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Caoan Road 4800, Shanghai 201804, P. R. China. xuwei@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qinggang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu