Trimodular engineering of linear supramolecular miniatures on Ag(111) surfaces controlled by complementary triple hydrogen bonds

The first example of a simultaneous threecomponent assembly on surfaces mediated by triple H-bonding interactions, which yields the formation of linear supramolecular miniatures, has been studied on Ag(111) surfaces by STM. Two linear modules, 1 and 2, and an anthracenyl-capped unit 3 (which can act as a molecular stopper) were assembled complementarily, to form discrete linear oligomeric assemblies. Although strict control of the length of the linear assemblies has not yet been achieved, our findings suggest that by controlling the ratio of the molecular modules, as well as the post-annealing treatment of the sample, the preparation of monodisperse auto-assembling architectures on surfaces could be achieved. Additionally, further control over the resulting H-bonded structures could be gained with a slight modification of the molecular building blocks by, for example, varying the length or the chemical nature of the alkyl moieties for 2 and/or 3 or by attaching other functional groups to 1. This approach would lead to a large library of versatile molecular modules that could be ultimately used as single-molecule devices.