The supramolecular self-assembly of a push-pull dye is investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at the liquid–solid interface. The molecule has an indandione head, a bithiophene backbone and a triphenylamine–bithiophene moiety functionalized with two carboxylic acid groups as a tail. The STM images show that the molecules adopt an “L” shape on the surface and form chiral Baravelle spiral triangular trimers at low solution concentrations. The assembly of these triangular chiral trimers on the graphite surface results in the formation of two types of chiral Kagomé nanoarchitectures. The Kagomé-α structure is composed of only one trimer enantiomer, whereas the Kagomé-β structure results from the arrangement of two trimer enantiomers in a 1:1 ratio. These Kagomé lattices are stabilized by intermolecular O-H···O hydrogen bonds between carboxylic acid groups. These observations reveal that the complex structure of the push-pull dye molecule leads to the formation of sophisticated two-dimensional chiral Kagomé nanoarchitectures. The subsequent deposition of coronene molecules leads to the disappearance of the Kagomé-β structure, whereas the Kagomé-α structure acts as the host template to trap the coronene molecules.

使用扫描隧道显微镜（STM）在液-固界面处研究了推挽式染料的超分子自组装。该分子具有茚满二酮头，联噻吩主链和被两个羧酸基团尾部官能化的三苯胺-联噻吩部分。STM图像显示分子在表面上呈“ L”形，并在低溶液浓度下形成手性Baravelle螺旋三角三聚体。这些三角形手性三聚体在石墨表面上的组装导致形成两种类型的手性Kagomé纳米结构。Kagomé-α结构仅由一种三聚对映体组成，而Kagomé-β结构是由两种三聚对映体以1：1的比例排列而成。这些Kagomé晶格通过羧酸基团之间的分子间OH··O氢键稳定。这些观察表明，推挽式染料分子的复杂结构导致形成复杂的二维手性Kagomé纳米结构。随后的日冕分子的沉积导致Kagomé-β结构的消失，而Kagomé-α结构则充当捕获日冕分子的宿主模板。