On-Surface Synthesis of Dibenzohexacenohexacene and Dibenzopentaphenoheptaphene

We report the on-surface synthesis and gas-phase theoretical studies of two novel nanographenes, namely, dibenzohexacenohexacene and dibenzopentaphenoheptaphene, using 8,8′-dibromo-5,5′-bibenzo[rst]pentaphene as a precursor. These nanographenes display a combination of armchair and zigzag edges, as shown by noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM), and their electronic properties are elucidated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations which reveal relatively low HOMO-LUMO energy gaps of about 1.75 eV.