Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2017, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (7): 1288-1296.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201704074

• FEATURE ARTICLE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Controlling the Topology of Low-Dimensional Organic Nanostructures with Surface Templates

Qi-Tang FAN,Jun-Fa ZHU*()   

  • Received:2017-01-12 Published:2017-05-31
  • Contact: Jun-Fa ZHU E-mail:jfzhu@ustc.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(2013CB834605);National Key Basic Research Program of China (973)(21473178)

Abstract:

The future of nanotechnology lies in the "bottom up" approach, which aims at building nanostructures at an atomic or molecular level so as to minimize the sizes of chips and other nano-devices. However, one of the long-term unresolved issues for "bottom up" nanotechnology is the precise control of the topologies of fabricated nanostructures. In this contibution, we review recent studies with regard to the control of the topologies of nanostructures formed via the on-surface Ullmann reaction of haloarenes. This includes three aspects:control of the shape of the organometallic chain via lattice matching between the adsorbate nanostructure and the substrate; tailoring the chains by employing super-gratings or supramolecular templates; and steering the covalent ring-chain competition in the reaction of precursors towards ring formation through adsorbate-substrate symmetry matching. Further, we present future directions for the development of more general templates for the regulation of the topologies of a broader range of nanostructures.

Key words: Topology regulation, Surface template, Ullmann reaction, On-surface synthesis, Organometallic, Polymer, Macrocycle molecule