Volume 64, Issue 28 e202425167
Communication

On-Surface Synthesis of Nanographenes Through Domino Cyclization Reactions

Shijie Sun

Shijie Sun

Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650093 China

Research Center for Analysis and Measurement, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650093 China

Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495 Japan

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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Qingyan Li

Qingyan Li

Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650093 China

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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Takatsugu Onishi

Takatsugu Onishi

Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495 Japan

Quantum Materials Science Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495 Japan

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Goudappagouda

Goudappagouda

Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495 Japan

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Hangjing Zhou

Hangjing Zhou

Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650093 China

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Prof. Lei Gao

Prof. Lei Gao

Faculty of Science, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650500 China

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Prof. Yoshinori Okada

Prof. Yoshinori Okada

Quantum Materials Science Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495 Japan

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Prof. Jianchen Lu

Corresponding Author

Prof. Jianchen Lu

Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650093 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Prof. Akimitsu Narita

Corresponding Author

Prof. Akimitsu Narita

Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495 Japan

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Prof. Jinming Cai

Corresponding Author

Prof. Jinming Cai

Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650093 China

Southwest United Graduate School, Kunming, 650093 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 30 April 2025

Graphical Abstract

On-surface synthesis enables nanographene fabrication but with limited reactions. Here, bis{2-(7-formylnaphthalen-2-yl)phenyl}diacetylene undergoes domino cyclization via cycloisomerization, cyclodehydrogenation, and formyl cyclization, yielding dibenzo[hi,st]ovalene and peryleno[2,1,12,11-fghij]pentaphene. STM, STS, and DFT analyses reveal their structures and properties, advancing carbon nanostructure synthesis.

Abstract

On-surface synthesis has emerged as a powerful method to synthesize nanographenes that are difficult to obtain through the solution chemistry, but the number of available reactions is still highly limited. In this study, we demonstrate an unprecedented on-surface domino cyclization of bis{2-(7-formylnaphthalen-2-yl)phenyl}diacetylene, leading to dibenzo[hi,st]ovalene and peryleno[2,1,12,11-fghij]pentaphene through a sequence of 1) cycloisomerization of diaryldiacetylene moieties, 2) oxidative cyclodehydrogenation, and 3) reductive cyclization of formyl groups. The structures of these nanographenes and other cyclized products were unambiguously elucidated by using scanning tunneling microscopy directly on Au(111). Moreover, their electronic properties were investigated by scanning tunneling spectroscopy combined with density functional theory calculations. Our findings offer new insights into the on-surface cyclization reactions, providing an effective strategy for synthesizing a wider variety of carbon nanostructures.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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