Mapping Buried Hydrogen-Bonding Networks

We map buried hydrogen-bonding networks within self-assembled monolayers of 3-mercapto-N-nonylpropionamide on Au{111}. The contributing interactions include the buried S Au bonds at the substrate surface and the buried plane of linear networks of hydrogen bonds. Both are simultaneously mapped with submolecular resolution, in addition to the exposed interface, to determine the orientations of molecular segments and directional bonding. Two-dimensional mode-decomposition techniques are used to elucidate the directionality of these networks. We find that amide-based hydrogen bonds cross molecular domain boundaries and areas of local disorder.