Donor-acceptor interactions between cyclic trinuclear pyridinate gold(i)-complexes and electron-poor guests: nature and energetics of guest-binding and templating on graphite.

Donor-acceptor-type interactions between π-electron systems are of high relevance in the design of chemical sensors. Due to their electron-rich nature, cyclic trinuclear complexes (CTCs) of gold(i) are ideal receptor sites for electron-deficient aromatic analytes. Scanning tunneling microscopy provided insight into the structures of two-dimensional crystals of pyridinate gold CTCs that form on a graphite template at the solid/liquid interface.