Orientation and Arrangement of Octaruthenium Supramolecules with Alkyl Chains on Graphite

The self‐assemblies of octaruthenium grid‐type supramolecules, {[Ru2(CO)4(NH2C16H33)2](μ‐O2CCO2)}4, on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) in air and in 1‐phenyloctane were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The surface supramolecules are arranged into rows in which the metal cores are linearly packed and the alkyl chains are parallel to the surface. With the aid of theoretical calculations in the framework of density functional theory, the electronic origin of the tunneling in the measured STM images is discussed. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)