Kinetic control over the chiral-selectivity in the formation of organometallic polymers on a Ag(110) surface

R. S.Koen Houtsma, Floris van Nyendaal, Meike Stöhr*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
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Abstract

Methods to control chiral-selectivity in molecular reactions through external inputs are of importance, both from a fundamental and technological point of view. Here, the self-assembly of prochiral 6,12-dibromochrysene monomers on Ag(110) is studied using scanning tunneling microscopy. Deposition of the monomers on a substrate held at room temperature leads to the formation of 1D achiral organometallic polymers. When the monomers are instead deposited on a substrate held at 373 K, homochiral organometallic polymers consisting of either the left- or right-handed enantiomer are formed. Post-deposition annealing of room temperature deposited samples at >373 K does not transform the achiral 1D organometallic polymers into homochiral ones and thus, does not yield the same final structure as if depositing onto a substrate held at the same elevated temperature. Furthermore, annealing promotes neither the formation of 1D covalently-coupled polymers nor the formation of graphene nanoribbons. Our results identify substrate temperature as an important factor in on-surface chiral synthesis, thereby demonstrating the importance of considering kinetic effects and the decisive role they can play in structure formation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number51
Number of pages6
JournalCommunications chemistry
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5-Mar-2024

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