Cyclodehydrofluorination of fluoroarenes on metal oxides: Toward bottom-up synthesis of carbon nanostructures on insulating surfaces.

We report on thermal C-F bond activation in fluoroarenes by various metal oxides leading to effective C-C bond formation via cyclodehydrofluorination. We demonstrate that the transformation of the precursor molecule to the respective model nanographene/nanoribbon can be realized rather effectively on various metal oxides. It is found that intramolecular Aryl-Aryl cyclization via cyclodehydrofluorination can be performed at relatively mild condition. Our finding opens up a venue toward rational synthesis of carbon-based nanomaterial by bottom-up strategy directly on insulating metal oxide surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]