Communications
ography is typically dominated by bright protrusions at the
while the sample was held at room temperature (Tꢀ 300 K).
This procedure resulted in a highly ordered structure
(Figure 1c),different from the structures formed by exposing
the surface to the individual reactants. The protrusions in the
STM images associated with the tert-butyl groups form
parallel double rows with the aromatic backbone visible
between two bright protrusions belonging to neighboring
rows. Features with a length matching the length of the
octylamine molecule extend from the aromatic end group
from the side opposite to the tert-butyl group,that is,from the
position originally occupied by the aldehyde group. Alkyl
chains from adjacent molecules align pairwise,similarly to the
lamellar motif observed for the octylamine structure. All
these STM features for the codeposited molecular structure
are consistent with it being formed by the diimine product,as
overlaid in Figure 1c. To confirm this hypothesis,the diimine
was synthesized ex situ by conventional solution-phase tech-
niques and was subsequently evaporated onto a gold substrate
held at a temperature of approximately 120 K to prevent
thermally activated on-surface reactions. Adsorption of the
ex situ reaction product indeed resulted in small structural
domains (Figure 1e) identical to those observed after surface
reaction (Figure 1c). Figures 1c,e depict mirror domains
constructed from opposite surface enantiomers of the di-
imine,as clarified by the overlaid structures. The dimensions
of the unit cells for the in situ and ex situ structures are
identical within experimental error (a = (16.9 Æ 0.9), b =
(26.8 Æ 1.3) , f= (107 Æ 3)8),with the aromatic backbones
tilted at an angle ab,h110i = (25 Æ 4)8 with respect to the
nearest close-packed direction of the Au(111) surface. We
can,thus,conclude that the structures resulting from diimines
formed in situ and ex situ are identical. In Figure 1 f,the
structure is shown in an STM imaging mode that suppresses
the bright tert-butyl,[13] thereby highlighting the positions of
the aromatic backbone and alkyl chains. The positions of the
alkyl chains with respect to the aromatic backbone match the
expected conformation of the diimine product,which is
stabilized by an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the
imine nitrogen atom and the hydroxy group.
Annealing the molecular surface structures at 400–450 K
led to larger ordered domains of diimine molecules,as
observed for products formed both in situ (Figure 1d) and
ex situ,signaling completion of the reaction,increased surface
mobility,and possibly also switching of the molecular
conformation[13] at this elevated temperature. Upon deposi-
tion of the diimine formed ex situ,we also observed free
amines on the substrate,indicating either some fragmentation
upon evaporation or the presence of surplus amines in the
molecular powder.
To obtain spectroscopic confirmation that an in situ 2D
surface reaction had occurred,we performed NEXAFS
spectroscopy studies. Carbon 1s spectra of the reactants and
of the ex situ and in situ products on the Au(111) surface are
shown in Figure 2. The peak at Ep1* = 284.9 eV is attributed to
a superposition of peaks arising from carbon atoms on the
aromatic backbone[14] and is shared by the dialdehyde and the
ex situ and in situ reaction products. As expected,this peak is
absent for the octylamine,which only shows a broad
resonance arising from s orbitals of the alkyl chains. The
ends of the molecules arising from the tert-butyl groups.
Octylamine forms a densely packed lamellar structure as
shown in Figure 1b.
Figure 1. STM images of reactants and products in the reaction of
Scheme 1b on a Au(111) surface. The molecular structures are over-
laid and outlined on certain images. a) Self-assembled island formed
by the dialdehyde (Vt =À1.0 V, It =À0.77 nA, bar size 2 nm). b) Lamel-
lar structure formed by octylamine (Vt =+2.0 V, It =0.41 nA, bar size
2 nm). c) Self-assembled structure formed by the diimine prepared
in situ at roomtemperature ( Vt =+1.9 V, It =0.27 nA, bar size 2 nm).
The unit cell of the structure is indicated. d) Large ordered domain
formed by the diimine prepared in situ and annealed at 450 K
(Vt =À2.2 V, It =À0.42 nA, bar size 4 nm). e) Self-assembled structure
formed by the diimine prepared ex situ and dosed onto a sample at
120 K (Vt =À2.0 V, It =À0.29 nA, bar size 2 nm). The unit cell of the
structure is indicated. f) Self-assembled structure formed by the
diimine prepared ex situ and observed in the backbone-imaging mode
(Vt =+1.9 V, It =0.38 nA, bar size 2 nm).[13]
To perform the 2D surface reaction,the dialdehyde was
first deposited on the Au(111) substrate to create a submo-
nolayer coverage of molecular islands. Subsequently,the
surface was brought close to saturation of the first monolayer
by exposing it to a vapor of octylamine (p ꢀ 1–5 10À8 mbar),
ꢀ 2007 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 9227 –9230
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