CMD30 FisMat2023 - Submission - View

Abstract title: Chalcogen bond at work on surface
Submitting author: Luca Camilli
Affiliation: University of Rome Tor Vergata/ Physics Department
Affiliation Address: via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1
Country: Italy
Other authors and affiliations: Luca Persichetti (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Antonio Caporale (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Manuela Scarselli (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Maurizia Palummo (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Conor Hogan (National Research Council), Deborah Romito (University of Vienna), Davide Bonifazi (University of Vienna)
Abstract
Larger molecular architectures can be formed on surfaces via a bottom-up strategy starting from smaller individual building blocks. Consequently, it is possible to finely tune the final molecular architectures’ morphology and properties by ad hoc engineering such individual building blocks. Clearly, strong interactions are necessary for stabilizing these architectures. Among these, halogen bonding is currently the most common SIGMA-hole interaction that can be found in the literature [1]. However, very recent theoretical studies have suggested chalcogen bonding as a valuable alternative [2, 3]. Here we demonstrate for the first time on-surface synthesis of such molecular architectures via formation of chalcogen bonds. Ad hoc monomers have been synthesized and then sublimated in ultra-high vacuum conditions on a Au(111) substrate. These monomers diffuse on the substrate surface and form dimer structures in which the individual monomers are held together via chalcogen bonds. The polymerization reaction was studied experimentally by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), whereas density functional theory has been used to simulate the STM images, to compute the interaction energy of two monomers and to investigate the dimer/substrate interaction. Bond-resolved STM images have also been acquired that unequivocally confirm the geometrical configuration of the dimers.  [1] J. Teyssandier et al. ChemistryOpen. 9, 225 (2020).[2] B. Ren et al. Chemical Physics 565, 111763 (2023) [3] S. Scheiner J Phys Chem A 126, 4025 (2022)