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

doi:10.1021/la0531594

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

Langmuir. 2006 Mar 28;22(7):3161-5. doi: 10.1021/la0531594.

Authors

Katrin Wedeking¹, Zhongcheng Mu, Gerald Kehr, Roland Fröhlich, Gerhard Erker, Lifeng Chi, Harald Fuchs

Affiliation

¹ Organisch-Chemisches Institut der Universität Münster, Corrensstr. 40, 48149 Münster, Germany.

PMID: 16548572
DOI: 10.1021/la0531594

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.