Van der Waals Interactions in the Self-assembly of 5-Amino[6]helicene on Cu(100) and Au(111)

HUGO ASCOLANI; MAARTEN VAN DER MEIJDEN; LUCILA CRISTINA; ESTEBAN, GAYONE; RICHARD KELLOGG; JAVIER FUHR; MAGALÍ LINGENFELDER

CHIMIA

SWISS CHEMICAL SOC

Año: 2015 vol. 69

0009-4293

The role of van der Waals interactions in the self-assembly of an aminohelicene on metal surfaces was elucidated using a combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory simulations. M. Lingenfelder and collaborators studied the self-assembly of 5-amino[6]helicene (AH) on copper and gold surfaces. While the C6 rings-surface interaction dominates in the case of Cu(100), the amino-surface interaction is crucial on Au(111). In both cases, it is significant that the amino group does not induce polar interactions via hydrogen bonding but rather that the maximization of vdW interactions drives the self-assembly.