Controlled Activation of Substrate Templating in Molecular Self-Assembly by Deprotonation

cited By 7; International audience; Templated assembly of organic molecules constitutes a promising approach for fabricating functional nanostructures at surfaces with molecular-scale control. Using the substrate template for steering the adsorbate growth enables creating a rich variety of molecular structures by tuning the subtle balance of intermolecular and molecule–surface interactions. On insulating surfaces, however, surface templating is largely absent due to the comparatively weak molecule–surface interactions compared to metallic substrates. Here, we demonstrate the activation of substrate templating in molecular self-assembly on a bulk insulator by controlled deprotonation of the …