Supramolecular Chemistry on Solid Surfaces

Summary

The potential of molecular electronics is readily recognized from the viewpoint of miniaturization of microelectronic circuits, because organic molecules can satisfy the requirements of such circuits with their stable nanometer scale structure and with energy levels that can be tailored by chemical synthesis. Investigations on the electronic properties and functions of single molecules have made remarkable advances since the invention of scanning tunneling microscopy. However, such investigations have not directly led to the production of actual molecular-scale electronic devices, owing to the lack of effective technologies for the fabrication of nanoscale molecular structures. In response to these circumstances, supramolecular assembly is one good way to create nanoscale molecular circuits. In this chapter, recent investigations of self-assembled nanostructures on solid surfaces created via supramolecular interaction are presented. After the history and the present status of the field of molecular electronics are summarized in Sect. 7.1, the concept of the supramolecular approach to molecular nanostructures is briefly discussed in Sect. 7.2. Control of the size and shape of a supramolecular assembly by dipole—dipole interactions, introduced by asymmetric charge distributions around substitutins, is presented in Sect. 7.3. Highly selective supramolecular nanostructures formed by hydrogen bonds are discussed in Sect. 7.4. Finally, one-dimensional and ring-shaped nanostructures formed by π-stacking interactions are presented in Sect. 7.5.