A side chain w-thiol substituted triphenylene derivative was synthesised to
investigate self-organisation of the triphenylene head group within a self
-assembled monolayer (SAM). Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used to
characterise the ordering within the monolayer and the mesogenic head grou
ps were found to orient with the discotic plane normal to the substrate for
ming columnar structures with the principal axis in plane of the monolayer.
The overall degree of ordering within the monolayer and the persistence le
ngth of the columnar structures was increased by insertion of the SAM into
trinitrofluorenone (TNF) solution. By altering the imaging parameters, the
STM tip could be used to perturb the ordering in the monolayer and subseque
nt re-annealing of some of the columns was observed on a time scale of abou
t a minute.