摘要
Self-assembly at the molecular level in solutions or on a surface is a subject of current interest. Herein we describe the tailoring of oligobisnorbornene 1, which represents an innovative concept of a preorganized building block on the tens of nanometer scale. The rodlike 1 has vinyl and styrenyl end groups. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) reveals that the oligomers aggregate anisotropically along the long axis and form a one-dimensional assembly in which, remarkably, no interstitial gap appears between neighboring oligomers. Dynamic light-scat-tering (DLS) measurements indicate that the assembly develops in solution. With a shear treatment for dropcast films, a unidirectionally ordered domain with a defect density less than 0.5% can be prepared. Simulation results by molecular dynamics suggest that there may be multiple interactions such as π-π stacking and dipolar at-tractions taking place between the termini of the oligomers. To demonstrate the importance of double bonds in the oligomeric backbones and termini towards the tectonic assembly, a hydrogenated analogue was synthesized; π-π interactions are thus less significant and the film morphology is completely different from that of 1. This work extends the concept of molecular tectonics to preorganized oligomers and opens up a new avenue of nanopatterning toward nanodevices. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.