Self-Assemblies\nof Carboxylic Acid Derivatives with\nDifferent Symmetry: Adjusting by Solvent and Guest Molecules

In this research, the self-assembly behaviors of two\ndifferent\nsymmetry carboxylic acid derivatives (<b>H</b><sub><b>3</b></sub><b>BTE</b> and <b>H</b><sub><b>4</b></sub><b>BTE</b>) regulated by solvent and guest molecule (coronene,\nCOR) were explored at the liquid/solid interface by scanning tunneling\nmicroscopy, and the formation mechanism was investigated by density\nfunctional theory. In 1-phenyloctane, only <b>H</b><sub><b>3</b></sub><b>BTE</b> molecules dissolved with extremely\nlow concentration and self-assembled into a honeycomb structure and\na new strip structure, while <b>H</b><sub><b>4</b></sub><b>BTE</b> could not. In 1-heptanoic acid, <b>H</b><sub><b>3</b></sub><b>BTE</b> and <b>H</b><sub><b>4</b></sub><b>BTE</b> were easily dissolved, in which <b>H</b><sub><b>3</b></sub><b>BTE</b> formed a regular\nrow structure and <b>H</b><sub><b>4</b></sub><b>BTE</b> formed a tetragonal structure, respectively. The host–guest\ninteraction was investigated by introducing the COR molecules into\ntheir self-assembly structures, and due to the different symmetry, <b>H</b><sub><b>3</b></sub><b>BTE</b> and <b>H</b><sub><b>4</b></sub><b>BTE</b> displayed different accommodation\nbehavior.