Surface-Catalyzed C–C Covalent Coupling Strategies toward the Synthesis of Low-Dimensional Carbon-Based Nanostructures

Carbon-based nanostructures have attracted tremendous interest because of their versatile and tunable properties, which depend on the bonding type of the constituting carbon atoms. Graphene, as the most prominent representative of the π-conjugated carbon-based materials, consists entirely of sp(2)-hybridized carbon atoms and exhibits a zero band gap. Recently, countless efforts were made to open and tune the band gap of graphene for its applications in semiconductor devices. One promising method is periodic perforation, resulting in a graphene nanomesh (GNM), which opens the band gap while maintaining the exceptional transport properties. However, the typically employed lithographic approach for graphene perforation is difficult to control at the atomic level. The complementary bottom-up method using surface-assisted carbon-carbon (C-C) covalent coupling between organic molecules has opened up new possibilities for atomically precise fabrication of conjugated nanostructures like GNM and graphene nanoribbons (GNR), although with limited maturity. A general drawback of the bottom-up approach is that the desired structure usually does not represent the global thermodynamic minimum. It is therefore impossible to improve the long-range order by postannealing, because once the C-C bond formation becomes reversible, graphene as the thermodynamically most stable structure will be formed. This means that only carefully chosen precursors and reaction conditions can lead to the desired (non-graphene) material. One of the most popular and frequently used organic reactions for on-surface C-C coupling is the Ullmann reaction of aromatic halides. While experimentally simple to perform, the irreversibility of the C-C bond formation makes it a challenge to obtain long-range ordered nanostructures. With no postreaction structural improvement possible, the assembly process must be optimized to result in defect-free nanostructures during the initial reaction, requiring complete reaction of the precursors in the right positions. Incomplete connections typically result when mobile precursor monomers are blocked from reaching unsaturated reaction sites of the preformed nanostructures. For example, monomers may not be able to reach a randomly formed internal cavity of a two-dimensional (2D) nanostructure island due to steric hindrance in 2D confinement, leaving reaction sites in the internal cavity unsaturated. Wrong connections between precursor monomers, here defined as intermolecular C-C bonds forcing the monomer into a nonideal position within the structure, are usually irreversible and can induce further structural defects. The relative conformational flexibility of the monomer backbones permits connections between deformed monomers when they encounter strong steric hindrance. This, however, usually leads to heterogeneous structural motifs in the formed nanostructures. This Account reviews some of the latest developments regarding on-surface C-C coupling strategies toward the synthesis of carbon-based nanostructures by addressing the above-mentioned issues. The strategies include Ullmann coupling and other, "cleaner" alternative C-C coupling reactions like Glaser coupling, cyclo-dehydrogenation, and dehydrogenative coupling. The choice of substrate materials and precursor designs is crucial for optimizing substrate reactivity and precursor diffusion rates, and to reduce events of wrong linkage. Hierarchical polymerization is employed to steer the coupling route, which effectively improves the completeness of the reaction. Effects of byproducts on nanostructure formation is comprehended with both experimental and theoretical studies.