Atomic resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of various-sized organothiols adsorbed on Au(111) display a (√3 × √3)R30° structure, even when the ω-substituent size (4.3-13 Å) is so large that such a packing should not be possible. The observation of a (√3 × √3)R30° structure for thiols that should pack less densely suggests that the observed images are of gold electronic distributions that have been perturbed by the adsorbed thiol.
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Kim et al. (1992) studied this question.