Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous materials generally consisting of two building elements: inorganic coupling units and organic linkers. These frameworks offer an enormous porosity, which can be used to store large amounts of gases and, as demonstrated in more recent applications, makes these compounds suitable for drug release. The huge sizes of the pores inside MOFs, however, also give rise to a fundamental complication, namely the formation of sublattices occupying the same space. This interpenetration greatly reduces the pore size and thus the available space within the MOF structure. We demonstrate here that the formation of the second, interpenetrated framework can be suppressed by using liquid-phase epitaxy on an organic template. This success demonstrates the potential of the step-by-step method to synthesize new classes of MOFs not accessible by conventional solvothermal methods.

Femtosecond charge transfer (CT) dynamics in a series of self-assembled monolayers with an oligo(phenylenethynylene) and oligo(phenyl) backbone is addressed by resonant Auger spectroscopy using the core hole clock method. The characteristic CT times are found to depend strongly on the character of the molecular orbital (MO) which mediates the CT process. This demonstrates that the efficiency and rate of CT through molecular frameworks can be controlled by resonant injection of the charge carriers into specific MOs.

The progressive liquid-phase layer-by-layer (LbL) growth of anisotropic multicomponent layer-based porous coordination polymers (PCPs) of the general formula [M(L)(P)(0.5)] (M: Cu(2+), Zn(2+); L: dicarboxylate linker; P: dinitrogen pillar ligand) was investigated by using either pyridyl- or carboxyl-terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold substrates as templates. It was found that the deposition of smooth, highly crystalline, and oriented multilayer films of these PCPs depends on the conditions at the early growth cycles. In the case of a two-step process with an equimolar mixture of L and P, growth along the [001] direction is strongly preferred. However, employing a three-step scheme with full separation of all components allows deposition along the [100] direction on carboxyl-terminated SAMs. Interestingly, the growth of additional layers on top of previously grown oriented seeding layers proved to be insensitive to the particular growth scheme and full retention of the initial orientation, either along the [001] or [100] direction, was observed. This homo- and heteroepitaxial LbL growth allows full control over the orientation and the layer sequence, including introduction of functionalized linkers and pillars.

Using a nitrile tailgroup as a spectroscopic marker, both twist and tilt of the aromatic backbones in several typical aromatic SAMs on Au(111) have been directly determined in a single experiment. Whereas the exact value of the twist angle depends on the molecular architecture, it was found to be quite noticeable in all SAMs (40−50°) and close to the respective value for aromatic bulk systems (32°).

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) fabricated on Au(111) substrates from a homologous series of pyridine-terminated organothiols have been investigated using ultra high vacuum infrared reflection adsorption spectroscopy (UHV-IRRAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. A total of 4 different pyridine-based organothiols have been investigated, consisting of a pyridine unit, one or two phenyl units, a spacer of between one and three methylene units and, finally, a thiol unit. For all pyridine-terminated thiols the immersion of Au-substrates in the corresponding ethanolic solutions was found to result in the formation of highly ordered and densely packed SAMs. For an even number of the methylene spacers between the SH group and the aromatic moieties, the SAM unit-cell is rather large, (5sq.rt(3) x 3)rect, whereas in case of an odd number of methylene units a smaller unit cell is adopted, (2sq.rt(3) x sq.rt(3))R30 degrees. The tilt angle of the molecules amounts to 15 degrees . In contrast to expectation, the pyridine-terminated organic surfaces exposed by the corresponding SAMs showed a surprisingly strong resistance with regard to protonation.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed by perfluoroterphenyl-substituted alkanethiols (C(6)F(5)-C(6)F(4)-C(6)F(4)-(CH(2))(n)-SH, FTPn) with variable length of the aliphatic linker (n = 2 and 3) were prepared on (111) Au and Ag and characterized by a combination of several complementary spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. A specific feature of these systems is the helical conformation of the FTP moieties, which, along with the high electronegativity of fluorine, distinguishes them from the analogous non-fluorinated systems and makes them attractive for different applications. The SAMs were found to be well-defined, highly ordered, and densely packed, which suggests a perfect correlation between the orientations and, in particular, twists of the FTP helices in the adjacent molecules. Significantly, the SAM exhibited pronounced odd-even effects, i.e. a dependence of the molecular orientation and packing density on the length of the aliphatic linker in the target molecules, with parity of n being the decisive parameter and the direction of the effects on Au opposite to that on Ag. The presence of the odd-even effects in the FTPn system brings new aspects into the discussion about the origin and mechanism of these phenomena. Specifically, the helical conformation of the FTP moieties in the dense phase excludes a variation of the intramolecular torsion and molecular twist as the mechanism behind the odd-even effects.

A series of biphenylnitrile-based self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au(111) was characterized by several complementary spectroscopic techniques, including resonant Auger electron spectroscopy (RAES). In spite of the disturbing role of nitrile, the SAMs exhibited high-quality and expected structural behavior, including the odd-even effects, even though with a lower extent than in the analogous nonsubstituted or methylsubstituted systems. A characteristic feature of the target films, and presumably also a general feature of oligophenyl-based SAMs, is a significant twist of the molecular backbone, similar to the situation in the analogous molecular crystals. No perceptible signal related to tail group-to-substrate transfer of the resonantly excited electron was recorded in the RAES spectra of the target films, even though such a transfer is energetically allowed in some of the cases. This was tentatively explained by the hypothesis that the charge transfer time is too long and lies beyond the range accessible by the core hole clock method via RAES in the present case. A characteristic feature of the RAES spectra of the target films at the excitation to the out-of plane orbital of the nitrile group is a strong suppression of the participator lines. This effect was qualitatively explained by the fact that the initial N1s core vacancy, the vacancy in the out-of-plane π 1 (C≡N*) orbital, and another valence vacancy participating in the decay are not localized on the same site in the case of this particular orbital and participator decay channels.

Two fully analogue homologue series of thiol and selenol based aromatic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au(111) in the form of CH(3)-(C(6)H(4))(2)-(CH(2))(n)-S-Au(111) (BPnS/Au(111), n = 2-6) and CH(3)-(C(6)H(4))(2)-(CH(2))(n)-Se-Au(111) (BPnSe/Au(111), n = 2-6), respectively, have been used to elucidate the relative stability of the S-Au(111) and Se-Au(111) bonding by monitoring their exchange by alkanethiol and alkaneselenol molecules from their respective solutions. The exchange process was monitored using infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). Two main results obtained by these study are: (1) the selenium-based BPnSe/Au(111) series is significantly more stable than their sulfur analogues; (2) a clear odd-even effect exists for the stability of both BPnS/Au(111) and BPnSe/Au(111) SAMs towards exchange processes with the even-numbered systems being less stable. The results obtained are discussed in view of previously reported microscopic and spectroscopic data of the same SAMs addressing the issue of the relative stability of S-Au(111) and Se-Au(111) bonding, which is an important factor for the rational design of SAMs.