Synthesis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Graphite Islands via Surface-Induced Reaction of Small Molecules

Attractive materials for molecular electronics are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the hydrogen‐terminated segments of a graphitic plane. Since the processing of larger PAHs, for example hexa‐peri‐hexabenzocoronene, is complicated by their extremely low solubilities and very small vapor pressures, the possibility of a surface‐assisted synthesis of planar PAHs is investigated starting from diphenylacetylene (left) and hexaphenylbenzene (right), as shown in the picture.