On-surface synthesis of 1D coordination polymers

Recently π–d conjugated coordination polymers have received a lot of attention owing to their unique material properties, although synthesis of long and defect‐free polymers remains challenging. Herein we introduce a novel on‐surface synthesis of π–d conjugated coordination polymers with quinoidal ligands under ultra‐high vacuum conditions, which enables formation of flexible coordination polymers with lengths up to hundreds of nanometers. Moreover, this procedure allows the incorporation of different transition‐metal atoms with four‐ or two‐fold coordination. Remarkably, the two‐fold coordination mode revealed the formation of wires constituted by (electronically) independent 12‐membered antiaromatic macrocycles linked together through two C−C single bonds.

V. M. Santhini, Ch. Wäckerlin, A. Cahlík, M. Ondráček, S. Pascal, A. Matěj, O. Stetsovych, P. Mutombo, P. Lazar, O. Siri, P. Jelínek
1D Coordination π–d Conjugated Polymers with Distinct Structures Defined by the Choice of the Transition Metal: Towards a New Class of Antiaromatic Macrocycles
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 60 (2021) 439 - 445.