Influence of chlorine substitution on the self-assembly of zinc phthalocyanine.

The adsorption and ordering of zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and octachloro zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPcCl(8)) on an Ag(111) surface is studied in situ by scanning tunneling microscopy under ultrahigh vacuum. Two-dimensional self-assembled supramolecular domains are observed for these two molecules. We show how substituting chlorine atoms for half of the peripheral hydrogen atoms on ZnPc influences the self-assembly mechanisms.