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Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Synthesis of a Water-soluble Metal–Organic Complex Array
Published on: October 8, 2016
On-Surface Observation of the Formation of Organometallic Complex in a Supramolecular Network
Yibao Li1, Linxiu Cheng1, Chunhua Liu1
1Key Laboratory of Organo-pharmaceutical Chemistry, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The on-surface formation of organometallic monomers or oligomers, especially in supramolecular network, attracts an extensive interest for chemists and material scientist. In this work, we have investigated metal coordination between zinc (II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and 1, 3-di (4-pyridyl) propane (dipy-pra) in the 2, 6, 11-tricarboxydecyloxy-3, 7, 10-triundecyloxy triphenylene (asym-TTT) supramolecular template by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate under ambient conditions. The experimental results demonstrate that every two ZnPc molecules in one nano-reactor connect with each other through one dipy-pra molecule by metal-coordination interaction. In this coordinating process, the template of asym-TTT supramolecular networks plays a significant role.
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