Aurophilic Molecules on Surfaces. Part II. (NapNC)AuCl on Au(111)

Thorsten Wagner; Michael Györök; Sebastian Wolfmayr; Petra Gründlinger; Uwe Monkowius; Peter Zeppenfeld

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c04152

Aurophilic Molecules on Surfaces. Part II. (NapNC)AuCl on Au(111)

ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 6;8(41):38083-38091. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c04152. eCollection 2023 Oct 17.

Authors

Thorsten Wagner¹, Michael Györök¹, Sebastian Wolfmayr¹, Petra Gründlinger¹, Uwe Monkowius², Peter Zeppenfeld¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Experimental Physics, Surface Science Division, Johannes Kepler University, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria.
² School of Education, Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria.

Abstract

Although aurophilicity is a well-known phenomenon in structural gold chemistry and is found in many crystals of Au(I) complexes, its potential for self-assembly in thin films is not yet explored. This paper is Part II of a study, in which we investigated the ultrathin film formation of chlorido(2-naphthyl isonitrile) gold(I) on gold surfaces. Here, we present the data for the growth of (NapNC)AuCl on isotropic Au(111) surfaces. Already during physical vapor deposition, the condensation of ultrathin films is monitored by photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) and incremental and spectrally resolved changes in the optical reflectance (DDRS). Additional structural data obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) reveal that the "crossed swords" packing motif known from the bulk is also present in thin films.