Some Pictures of Alcoholic Dancing: From Simple to Complex Hydrogen-Bonded Networks Based on Polyalcohols

The present study is aimed at elucidating the factors governing the organization on surfaces of some aromatic alcohol molecules. The ability to self-assemble on an Au (111) surface monolayer structures of three different polyalcohols with trigonal symmetry, 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene (THB), 1,3,S-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)benzene (THPB), and 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene (HHTP), has been evaluated. The characterization has been performed in situ by means of ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and the obtained networks have been rationalized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. One single phase consisting of trimers has been identified for each of the trialcohols studied, whereas for HHTP two additional phases have been characterized. The use of HHTP molecules has shown more versatility in the interaction modes of the hydroxyl groups, leading to larger structural variety on Au (111).