Langmuir 2006-03-28

Tetradecylferrocene: ordered molecular array of an organometallic amphiphile in the crystal and in a two-dimensional assembled structure on a surface.

Katrin Wedeking, Zhongcheng Mu, Gerald Kehr, Roland Fröhlich, Gerhard Erker, Lifeng Chi, Harald Fuchs

Index: Langmuir 22(7) , 3161-5, (2006)

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Abstract

Tetradecylferrocene (4, Fc-(CH2)13CH3) was synthesized via lithiation of ferrocene by treatment with tert-butyl lithium, followed by alkylation with 1-bromotetradecane. Complex 4 forms a physisorbed ordered molecular monolayer on the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) that was analyzed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). It features a lamellar structure with single rows of ferrocenyl moieties separating connecting areas formed by the long alkyl chains which are arranged parallel to each other. The ordering principle of 4 on the surface can be related to the arrangement of Fc-(CH2)13CH3 molecules in the three-dimensional crystal lattice.