Host-guest assembly functionalization through molecular selective adsorption into chiral Kagome-like frameworks

Abstract

Supramolecular self-assembly offers a feasible route for nanopatterning and functionality. The construction and precise control of selective adsorption at the molecular scale play essential roles in fundamental sciences and practical applications. Molecular tiling such as trihexagonal tiling Kagome networks has potential promising chemical and physical properties. Distorted Kagome-like networks controllable fabrication is possible by coupling molecular functional groups and substrate atoms. A chiral Kagome-like network was constructed using IFDO ([1,2-b]fluorene-6,12-dione) as precursor molecules complemented with molecular beam epitaxy and annealing strategies. Revealing arrangements of the assembled network of O-Cu metal coordination linked Kagome-like networks on the Cu(111) surface and their assembly mechanisms and cavity characteristics were explored in detail through scanning tunneling microscopy combined with density functional theory. Based on the electronic state difference between the hole center of the network and the molecular backbone, the host–guest network was successfully prepared by co-depositing C60 molecules. Kagome-like networks could as an efficient template for regulating the adsorption configuration of C60. Our results demonstrate a controllable and efficient method to design atomically precise ordered host–guest assemblies on solid surfaces, advancing the approach is yet another step toward the fabrication of molecular devices.