On-surface chemistry of alkyne derivatives

Carbonaceous compounds and carbon allotropes are materials of particular interest for science and technology. Notably, their zero-, one-, and two-dimensional species and constructs are currently explored as key ingredients of advanced materials for multiple application fields, including nano- and optoelectronics, photonics, molecular separation and storage, nanomechanics, catalysis, and energy storage. A central topic therein is the preparation of supra- and polymolecular materials from precursors combining sp2 and sp carbon species through bottom-up approaches. In this review, we illustrate selected recent progresses achieved in the field of on-surface chemistry of alkyne derivatives, focusing on examples with prospect for the construction of atom-precise molecular architectures and graphyne- and graphdiyne-related materials. The discussion of the mainly scanning probe-based investigations is intended to provide an overview on the main aspects involved, such as interactions, ordering phenomena, and chemical transformations. The achieved nanostructures are typically afforded by CH/π-mediated noncovalent interactions, of metal acetylide nature, or formed via on-surface covalent coupling reactions.