We present an interplay of high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy imaging and the corresponding theoretical calculations based on elastic scattering quantum chemistry techniques of the adsorption of a gold-functionalized rosette assembly and its building blocks on a Au(111) surface with the goal of exploring how to fabricate functional 3-D molecular nanostructures on surfaces. The supramolecular rosette assembly stabilized by multiple hydrogen bonds has been sublimed onto the Au(111) surface under ultra-high vacuum conditions; the resulting surface nanostructures are distinctly different from those formed by the individual molecular building blocks of the rosette assembly, suggesting that the assembly itself can be transferred intact to the surface by in situ thermal sublimation. This unanticipated result will open up new perspectives for growth of complex 3-D supramolecular nanostructures at the vacuum-solid interface.

Molecular Landers are a class of compounds containing an aromatic board as well as bulky side groups which upon adsorption of the molecule on a surface may lift the molecular board away from the substrate. Different molecular Landers have extensively been studied as model systems for nanomachines and the formation of molecular wires, as well as for their function as "molecular moulds", i.e., acting as templates by accommodating metal atoms underneath their aromatic board. Here, we investigate the adsorption of a novel Lander molecule 1, 4-bis(4-(2, 4-diaminotriazine)phenyl)-2, 3, 5, 6-tetrakis(4-tert-butylphenyl)benzene (DAT, C₆₄H₆₈N₁₀) on Cu(110) and Au(111) surfaces under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. By means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging and manipulaAEtion, we characterize the morphology and binding geometries of DAT molecules at terraces and step edges. On the Cu(110) surface, various contact configurations of individual DAT Landers were formed at the step edges in a controlled manner, steered by STM manipulation, including lateral translation, rotation, and pushing molecules to an upper terrace. The diffusion barrier of single DAT molecules on Au(111) is considerably smaller than on Cu(110). The DAT Lander is specially designed with diamino-triazine side groups making it suitable for future studies of molecular self-assembly by hydrogen-bonding interactions. The results presented here are an important guide to the choice of substrate for future studies using this compound.