Photoelectron spectroscopy investigation of the temperature-induced deprotonation and substrate-mediated hydrogen transfer in a hydroxyphenyl-substituted porphyrin

The temperature dependent stepwise deprotonation of 5,10,15,20-tetra(p-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin is investigated using photoelectron spectroscopy. An abundance of pyrrolic relative to iminic nitrogen and a decrease in the ratio of the amount of -NH- to -N= with increasing annealing temperature is found. In contrast to the molecules adsorbed on Au(111), on the more reactive Ag(110) surface, partial dissociation of the hydroxyl groups and subsequent diffusion and rebonding of hydrogen to the central nitrogen atoms resulting in a zwitterionic molecule was clearly observed. Moreover, partial C-H bond cleavage and the formation of new covalent bonds with adjacent molecules or the surface starts at a relatively high annealing temperature of 300{deg}C. This reaction is identified to occur at the carbon atoms of the pyrrole rings, which leads also to a shift in the N 1s signal and changes in the valence band of the molecules. Our results show that annealing can significantly alter the molecules which were deposited depending on the maximum temperature and the catalytic properties of the specific substrate. The thermal stability should be considered if a molecular monolayer is prepared from a multilayer by desorption, or if annealing is applied to enhance the self-assembly of molecular structures.

Investigation of Ultrathin Layers of Bis(phthalocyaninato)lutetium(III) on Graphite

We present a comprehensive study of the adsorption of bis(phthalocyaninato)lutetium(III) (LuPc$_2$) on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite(0001) (HOPG). The growth and self-assembly of the molecular layers as well as the electronic structure has been investigated systematically using scanning tunnelling microscopy and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular mechanics simulations. We reveal that the adsorption of LuPc$_2$ leads to the formation of a square-like close-packed structure on the almost inert surface of HOPG, which is corroborated by simulations. Moreover, we observed a parallel orientation of the LuPc$_2$ molecules in the first monolayer, whereas in subsequent layers an increasing tilt out of the surface plane was found. Tip-sample distance-dependent tunnelling spectroscopy measurements allowed us to detect a shift in the energy positions of the peaks assigned to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital toward the Fermi energy with decreasing tip-sample separation.