Stepwise Adsorption of Alkoxy‐Pyrene Derivatives onto a Lamellar, Non‐Porous Naphthalenediimide‐Template on HOPG

The development of new strategies for the preparation of multicomponent supramolecular assemblies is a major challenge on the road to complex functional molecular systems. Here we present the use of a non‐porous self‐assembled monolayer from uC(33)‐NDI‐uC(33), a naphthalenediimide symmetrically functionalized with unsaturated 33 carbon‐atom‐chains, to prepare bicomponent supramolecular surface systems with a series of alkoxy‐pyrene (PyrOR) derivatives at the liquid/HOPG interface. While previous attempts at directly depositing many of these PyrOR units at the liquid/HOPG interface failed, the multicomponent approach through the uC(33)‐NDI‐uC(33) template enabled control over molecular interactions and facilitated adsorption. The PyrOR deposition restructured the initial uC(33)‐NDI‐uC(33) monolayer, causing an expansion in two dimensions to accommodate the guests. As far as we know, this represents the first example of a non‐porous or non‐metal complex‐bearing monolayer that allows the stepwise formation of multicomponent supramolecular architectures on surfaces.