One-dimensional coordination polymers on surfaces: towards single molecule devices

Formation of infinite structures based on the combination of metals and organic ligands, known as coordination polymers (CPs), gives rise to materials with a rich structural diversity and interesting physical and/or chemical properties. Most of the efforts towards applications of CPs have been focused on catalysis and gas-storage/separation properties. A novel approach into this field is the organization of CPs on surfaces in the search of nanomaterials with potential technological applications such as nanoelectronics, spintronics or nanosensing. Advances on surface organization of discrete metallo-organic compounds and 2D coordination polymers have been the subject of recent reviews. This tutorial review will fill up a remaining gap in the current literature: a review on one-dimensional coordination polymers on surfaces. First publications on this field appeared in 2005 and, from then, this area experienced a formidable blossoming. One of the main interests of one-dimensional systems arises from their potential use in nanoelectronics as molecular wires. This review summarizes the strategies for the isolation and structural and morphological characterization of several topologies of 1D coordination polymers on surfaces. Several parameters that affect the organization of these systems on surfaces have been taken into account from both experimental and theoretical points of view.