title: Interplay of Chemical and Electronic Structure on the Single-Molecule Level in 2D Polymerization.
abstract: Single layers of covalently linked organic materials in the form of two-dimensional (2D) polymers constitute structures complementary to inorganic 2D materials. The electronic properties of 2D polymers may be manipulated through a deliberate choice of the organic precursors. Here we address the changes in electronic structure-from precursor molecule to oligomer-by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. For this purpose, we introduce the polymerization reaction of 1,3,5-tris(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene via decarboxylation on Cu(111), which is thoroughly characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. We present a comprehensive study of a contamination-free on-surface coupling scheme and study how dehydrogenation, decarboxylation, and polymerization affect the electronic structure on the molecular level.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart 70569, Germany.|Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Claudius
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5795-9288
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morchutt
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University , Linköping 58183, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1345-0006
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Björk
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart 70569, Germany.
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Straßer
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart 70569, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Starke
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart 70569, Germany.
authors.forename: Rico
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gutzler
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart 70569, Germany.|Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Lausanne 1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kern
keywords: 2D polymer; HOMO/LUMO gap; STS; covalent coupling; decarboxylation; electronic structure; porous polymer