Controlled Formation of Porous 2D Lattices from C₃‐symmetric Ph₆−Me‐Tribenzotriquinacene‐OAc₃

Abstract

The on‐surface self‐assembly of molecules to form holey nanographenes is a promising approach to control the properties of the resulting 2D lattice. Usually, planar molecules are utilized to prepare flat, structurally confined molecular layers, with only a few recent examples of warped precursors. However, control of the superstructures is limited thus far. Herein, we report the temperature‐controlled self‐assembly of a bowl‐shaped, acetylated C3‐symmetric hexaphenyltribenzotriquinacene derivative on Cu(111). Combining scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) confirms the formation of highly differing arrangements starting with π‐stacked bowl‐to‐bowl dimers at low coverage at room temperature via chiral honeycomb structures, an intermediate trigonal superstructure, followed by a fully carbon‐based, flattened hexagonal superstructure formed by on‐surface deacetylation, which is proposed as a precursor for holey graphene networks with unique defect structures.

Theoretical Prediction of Janus TQ-Graphene as a Metallic Two-Dimensional Carbon Allotrope with Negative Poisson’s Ratios for High Capacity Sodium-Ion Batteries

“…Although the design of TQ-graphene is based on the TQ skeleton, it remains challenging to prepare TQ-graphene from TQ molecules. Fortunately, significant progress has been made in recent years in synthesizing carbon-based 2D networks that incorporate a TQ scaffold. − We anticipate that these findings of TQ-graphene make it a promising candidate anode material for SIBs and await experimental confirmation.…”