Self-organization of phenyleneethynylene into wire-like molecular materials on surfaces

Abstract

A model phenyleneethynylene, which does not possess any functional groups, self-organizes into wire -like structures on 2D surfaces. High-resolution STM imaging revealed that the molecules are arranged in a skewed 2D fashion. Analysis of various domains indicated the existence of two types of molecular packing arising from different modes of alkyl CH...pi interaction, which was further supported by theoretical calculations.