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Guest-induced growth of a surface-based supramolecular bilayer

Nature Chemistry volume 3, pages 74–78 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Self-assembly of planar molecules on a surface can result in the formation of a wide variety of close-packed or porous structures. Two-dimensional porous arrays provide host sites for trapping guest species of suitable size. Here we show that a non-planar guest species (C60) can play a more complex role by promoting the growth of a second layer of host molecules (p-terphenyl-3,5,3″,5″-tetracarboxylic acid) above and parallel to the surface so that self-assembly is extended into the third dimension. The addition of guest molecules and the formation of the second layer are co-dependent. Adding a planar guest (coronene) can displace the C60 and cause reversion to a monolayer arrangement. The system provides an example of a reversible transformation between a planar and a non-planar supramolecular network, an important step towards the controlled self-assembly of functional, three-dimensional, surface-based supramolecular architectures.

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Figure 1: Molecular structure of TPTC single-layer network.
Figure 2: Growth of the TPTC–C60 bilayer.
Figure 3: Structure of TPTC–C60 bilayer.
Figure 4: Reversal of bilayer formation by the addition of coronene.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for financial support under grant EP/D048761/1. M.S. thanks the European Research Council for an Advanced Grant. N.R.C. acknowledges the receipt of a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Matthew O. Blunt, James C. Russell & Peter H. Beton

  2. School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Maria del Carmen Gimenez-Lopez, Nassiba Taleb, Xiang Lin, Martin Schröder & Neil R. Champness

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  1. Matthew O. Blunt
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  2. James C. Russell
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  3. Maria del Carmen Gimenez-Lopez
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  4. Nassiba Taleb
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  5. Xiang Lin
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  6. Martin Schröder
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  7. Neil R. Champness
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  8. Peter H. Beton
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Contributions

M.O.B. and J.C.R. acquired the STM data, M.O.B. performed the MD simulations, M.C.G, X.L., M.S. and N.R.C. developed the synthetic route for the TPTC molecule, M.O.B. and P.H.B. analysed the data, M.O.B., N.R.C. and P.H.B. conceived and coordinated the experimental work and M.O.B., N.R.C. and P.H.B. co-wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Neil R. Champness or Peter H. Beton.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Blunt, M., Russell, J., Gimenez-Lopez, M. et al. Guest-induced growth of a surface-based supramolecular bilayer. Nature Chem 3, 74–78 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.901

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