Host-guest architectures with a surface confined imine covalent organic framework as two-dimensional host networks.

A two-dimensional covalent organic framework (2D COF), synthesized on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface with benzene-1,3,5-tricarbaldehyde and p-phenylenediamine as the precursors, is used as a host to accommodate three guest molecules, coronene, copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), and fluorine-substituted copper phthalocyanine (F16CuPc). The host-guest interaction and dynamic behavior were investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory.