Self-assembly of mechanically interlocked and threaded rings: a HREELS and XPS study of thiol-functionalised catenane and rotaxane molecules on Au(111)

Thiol-functionalised catenane and rotaxane thin films were investigated in order to understand the self-assembly of such complex molecules on Au(111). Adsorption from the liquid phase at 300 K leads to the formation of overlayers without long-range order, as evidenced by high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (HREELS). As expected for thiol adsorption, the sulfur 2p binding energies determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are consistent with the formation of thiolate surface intermediates. The properties of these films are explored as a function of annealing. Changes in vibrational spectra such as the emergence of a Au-O band and variations in core-level binding energies and intensities reveal molecular rearrangement due to partial desorption. In addition, based on coherent domain sizes estimated by the angular width of the elastic beam intensity, annealing promotes long-range order within the adlayers.