UC Berkeley

In this chapter, a decade-long series of investigations about aromatic molecules on metallic surfaces has been reviewed. The most relevant studies regarding both structural investigation and chemical reactivity of aromatic systems on a metallic surface are described. A major emphasis has been placed on the investigation techniques that allow for a direct visualization of the structural and electronic properties of both isolated and extended aromatic systems on a surface (e.g. scanning tunnelling microscopy, non-contact-atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy). The synthesis, imaging and characterization of structures such as an extended polyaromatic hydrocarbon, 1-D assembly, 2-D network and graphene nanoribbons are discussed. Among the different types of reactions, surface mediated reactions, such as acetylene homocoupling, cyclodehydrogenation, cycloaddition and metal-coordination, have been described.