skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: From hydrogen bonding to metal coordination and back: Porphyrin-based networks on Ag(111)

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4908535· OSTI ID:22415485

The self-assembly of a metal-free porphyrin bearing two pyridyl coordinating sites and two pentyl chains at trans meso positions was investigated under ultrahigh vacuum on a Ag(111) surface by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The STM measurements revealed a well-ordered close-packed structure with a rhombic unit cell for coverages ≤1 monolayer with their molecular plane parallel to the surface. The growth direction of the molecular islands is aligned along the step edges, which are restructured due to molecule-substrate interactions. The shorter unit cell vector of the molecular superstructure follows the 〈1-10〉 direction of the Ag(111) substrate. Hydrogen bonds between pyridyl and pyrrole groups of neighboring molecules as well as weak van der Waals forces between the pentyl chains stabilize the superstructure. Deposition of cobalt atoms onto the close-packed structure at room temperature leads to the formation of a hexagonal porous network stabilized by metal-ligand bonding between the pyridyl ligands and the cobalt atoms. Thermal annealing of the Co-coordination network at temperatures >450 K results in the transformation of the hexagonal network into a second close-packed structure. Changes in the molecule-substrate interactions due to metalation of the porphyrin core with Co as well as intermolecular interactions can explain the observed structural transformations.

OSTI ID:
22415485
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 142, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English