Influence of Halogen Bonds on the Compactness of Supramolecular Assemblies on Si(111)-B

cited By 0International audienceThe role of halogen bonds on the molecular structure of large assemblies on a weakly reactive surface has been investigated. Our scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments reveal a large variation of compactness of assemblies along the amount of halogen bonds within the building unit. In brief, we observe an increasing compactness of the supramolecular structures for zero, one, and two halogen atoms per molecule. Our experimental results are supported by molecular and STM calculations where the presence of van der Waals interactions was also considered. We found that molecular units adopt a structural arrangement that maximizes highly selective nitrogen-surface bonding and favor lateral interactions where the molecules are driven by halogen bonds. This study suggests that the presence of halogen bonds can be an efficient tool to control the molecular arrangement within two-dimension or one-dimension supramolecular networks on a silicon surface