posted on 2024-01-25, 09:30authored byFederico Frezza, Adam Matěj, Ana Sánchez-Grande, Manuel Carrera, Pingo Mutombo, Manish Kumar, David Curiel, Pavel Jelínek
The design of supramolecular
organic radical cages and frameworks
is one of the main challenges in supramolecular chemistry. Their interesting
material properties and wide applications make them very promising
for (photo)redox catalysis, sensors, or host–guest spin–spin
interactions. However, the high reactivity of radical organic systems
makes the design of such supramolecular radical assemblies challenging.
Here, we report the on-surface synthesis of a purely organic supramolecular
radical framework on Au(111), by combining supramolecular and on-surface
chemistry. We employ a tripodal precursor, functionalized with 7-azaindole
groups that, catalyzed by a single gold atom on the surface, forms
a radical molecular product constituted by a π-extended fluoradene-based
radical core. The radical products self-assemble through hydrogen
bonding, leading to extended 2D domains ordered in a Kagome-honeycomb
lattice. This approach demonstrates the potential of on-surface synthesis
for developing 2D supramolecular radical organic chemistry.