On-Surface Synthesis of Pentagon-Incorporated Graphene-Like Nanoribbons with Multiple Precursors

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and their derivatives arereceivingincreasing attention as a result of their unique electronic and magneticproperties, and many novel derivative structures have been fabricated.The carbon pentagon plays a crucial role in determining both geometricstructures and electronic properties of carbon-based materials. Here,we demonstrate that carbon-pentagon-incorporated graphene-like nanoribbons(GLNRs), which are an important class of GNR derivatives, are successfullyfabricated via the Ullmann coupling and aromatic cyclodehydrogenationreaction on the surface by a suitable choice of multiple tailoredmolecular precursors. Our approach provides a basis for the impactof adatoms in the reaction and proves the steering function of thearyl-metal interaction in procedures of self-assembly and organometallicstate. In addition, this study paves the way for on-surface synthesisof GNRs and their derivatives as well as the fine tuning of electronicproperties of carbon nanoarchitectures by manipulating the edge structuresand embedding carbon pentagon heterojunctions.