Selective supramolecular assembly of multifunctional ligands on a Cu(111) surface: metallacycles, propeller trimers and linear chains

We studied the supramolecular assembly of a multifunctional ligand, cis-bis-terpyridine tetraphenyl ethylene, on a Cu(111) surface by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Three distinctive supramolecular structures, metallacycles, propeller-shaped clusters and extended linear chains, are formed under specific assembly conditions owing to different inter-molecular binding modes of Cu-coordination, van der Waals interaction and hydrogen bonding, respectively.