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Updated: May 31, 2026

Imine Metathesis by Silica-Supported Catalysts Using the Methodology of Surface Organometallic Chemistry
Published on: October 18, 2019
Single-molecule resolution of an organometallic intermediate in a surface-supported Ullmann coupling reaction
Weihua Wang1, Xingqiang Shi, Shiyong Wang
1Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Abstract:
We have studied the organometallic intermediate of a surface-supported Ullmann coupling reaction from 4, 4″-dibromo-p-terphenyl to poly(para-phenylene) by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. Our study reveals at a single-molecular level that the intermediate consists of biradical terphenyl (ph)(3) units that are connected by single Cu atoms through C-Cu-C bridges. Upon further increasing the temperature, the neighboring biradical (ph)(3) units are coupled by C-C bonds forming poly(para-phenylene) oligomers while the Cu atoms are released.
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