Abstract :
[en] Trioxatriangulenium (TOTA) platform molecules were functionalized with methyl, ethyl, ethynyl,
propynyl, and hydrogen and sublimated onto Au(111) surfaces. Low-temperature scanning tunneling
microscopy data reveal that >99% of ethyl-TOTA and methyl-TOTA remain intact, whereas 60%
of H-TOTA and >99% of propynyl-TOTA and ethynyl-TOTA decompose. The observed tendency
toward fragmentation on Au(111) is opposite to the sequence of gas-phase stabilities of the molecules.
Although Au(111) is the noblest of all metal surfaces, the binding energies of the decomposition
products to Au(111) destabilize the functionalized platforms by 2 to 3.9 eV (190–370 kJ/mol) and
even render some of them unstable as revealed by density functional theory calculations. Van der
Waals forces are important, as they drive the adsorption of the platform molecules.
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