Recently, the teams led by Cai Jinming, Lu Jianchen, and Lei Gao from Kunming University of Science and Technology collaborated with the teams of Zhao Xinjing from Huaqiao University and Tan Yuanzhi from Xiamen University and achieved significant progress in the reaction mechanism of selective dehydrogenation coupling of carbon - based molecules on metal surfaces. The related work, titled "Regioselective Dehydrogenation Coupling via Out - of - Plane Flipping on Metal Surfaces", was published in the international top - tier journal in the field of chemistry,
Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Kunming University of Science and Technology is the first - affiliated unit. Dr. Zhang Yong from Kunming University of Science and Technology, Professor Lu Jianchen, and Master graduate Zhou Hangjing are the co - first authors. Professor Lu Jianchen, Associate Professor Lei Gao, Associate Professor Zhao Xinjing from Huaqiao University, and Professor Cai Jinming are the co - corresponding authors. This research was supported by projects such as the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation, the Yunnan Provincial Basic Research Program, the Engineering Research Center of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education, and the Yunnan Provincial Innovation Team.
Selective dehydrogenation coupling plays a crucial role in surface synthesis for obtaining high - yield carbon - based nanostructures. Currently, most dehydrogenation coupling methods of carbon - based molecules on metal surfaces occur based on in - plane displacement, while there are relatively few studies on the feasibility and selectivity of dehydrogenation coupling through out - of - plane flipping. In this study, benzofluoranthrene and its derivatives were used as models, and the feasibility of achieving dehydrogenation coupling of carbon - based molecules on two - dimensionally confined metal surfaces through out - of - plane flipping was investigated by combining experiments and theoretical calculations. The research shows that benzofluoranthrene and its derivatives on metal surfaces may produce two incompatible products: directly forming a five - membered ring by bonding or forming a six - membered ring through out - of - plane flipping. The results of STM experiments show that the six - membered ring products account for almost all of the final products (yield ≥ 99%), while the five - membered ring products can only be observed under special conditions. Through comparative experiments, the influencing factors of achieving dehydrogenation coupling of carbon - based molecules on metal surfaces through out - of - plane flipping were summarized. This work provides new ideas for the synthesis of conjugated carbon - based nanostructures.
In recent years, the teams of Cai Jinming, Lu Jianchen, and Lei Gao in our university, based on the research plan combining molecular beam epitaxy - scanning probe microscopy with first - principles calculations, have achieved a series of important research results in the atomic manufacturing and mechanism research of low - dimensional nanomaterials. These results include the phenyl migration mechanism [Nat. Commun. 2023, 14, 970], the selective dehydrogenative cyclization of phenylporphyrin [ACS Nano 2023, 17, 13575], the controllable synthesis of nanographene by domino cyclization reactions [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, e202425167], and the preparation of graphyne molecular chains by elimination reactions [Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 690], etc.
