阿茲海默症是一種隨著年齡老化有關的神經退化性疾病，其特徵主要為記憶喪失及認知功能失調。阿茲海默症有兩個主要的病理指標，包含了因為濤蛋白造成的神經纖維糾結以及乙型類澱粉蛋白堆積而成的老化斑塊。乙型類澱粉蛋白是由類澱粉前驅蛋白經β-分泌酶及γ-分泌酶連續裁切生成大小約4-kDa的胜肽。乙型類澱粉蛋白會相互堆積形成寡聚體，並且高分子量寡聚體進一步再堆積成不可溶性的乙型類澱粉蛋白纖維及老化斑塊。半乳糖凝集素-3是半乳糖凝集素家族的一員，目前已知半乳糖凝集素-3調節各種細胞的功能，例如發炎、腫瘤生長以及細胞間的黏附，而在癌症中則有促使癌細胞積聚的能力，然而在大腦中的作用仍尚不清楚。在本研究中，我們使用APP/PS1基因轉殖小鼠作為阿茲海默症的動物模型，並且在其大腦中研究半乳糖凝集素-3對於乙型類澱粉蛋白堆積的作用與機制。結果顯示在野生型小鼠的海馬迴中過度表現半乳糖凝集素-3會促進乙型類澱粉蛋白的堆積，而將乙型類澱粉蛋白注射在半乳糖凝集素-3基因剔除小鼠的海馬迴，則會觀察到乙型類澱粉蛋白寡聚合作用的減少。乙型類澱粉蛋白的注射也會增加海馬迴中半乳糖凝集素-3的表現。在APP/PS1小鼠的海馬迴可以觀察到半乳糖凝集素-3的表現量會隨著年齡增長而增加，而具有抑制發炎及免疫反應的PIAS1在APP/PS1小鼠海馬迴中的表現量則會隨著年齡增長而減少。在探討半乳糖凝集素-3調節乙型類澱粉蛋白寡具體作用的過程中，我們發現半乳糖凝集素-3基因剔除小鼠的海馬迴中能夠代謝乙型類澱粉蛋白的腦啡肽酶表現量是野生型小鼠的兩倍多。研究結果顯示半乳糖凝集素-3對於乙型類澱粉蛋白的堆積扮演了重要的角色以及可能在阿茲海默症的病理機制中具有重要的作用。 / Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder which is characterized by progressive loss of memory and other cognitive functions. The two pathological hallmarks of AD are extracellular amyloid plaque and flame-shaped neurofibrillary tangles of the tau protein. Aβ is a 4-kDa protein that is resulted from sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein by beta-secretase and gamma-secretase. Once Aβ is produced, it will aggregate to form oligomers and high molecular weight (HMW) oligomers will further assemble to form large insoluble fibrils and plaque. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a member of the β-galactoside-binding galectin protein family. Gal-3 is known to regulate various cellular functions, such as inflammation, tumor progression and cell-cell adhesion. In cancer cell, Gal-3 enhances homotypic aggregation, but its role in the brain is much less known. In the present study, we examined the role and mechanism of Gal-3 in Aβ aggregation in the brain by adopting the APP/PS1 mice as an animal model of AD. Results revealed that overexpression of Gal-3 enhanced Aβ oligomerization, whereas Aβ injection into hippocampus of Gal-3 KO mice reduced Aβ oligomerization. Aβ injection also increased Gal-3 expression in the hippocampus. Gal-3 expression is also increased in APP/PS1 mice and this effect is more significant along with ageing. Meanwhile, the expression of protein inhibitor of activated STAT1 (PIAS1) that suppresses inflammation and immune response was decreased with ageing in APP/PS1 mice. We further found that the expression level of neprilysin, an enzyme that degrades Aβ, was increased for approximately two-folds in Gal-3 KO mice compared with WT mice. These results suggest that Gal-3 plays an important role in Aβ aggregation and possibly in the pathology of AD.

Mycobacteria are multifaceted pathogens capable of causing both acute disease as well as an asymptomatic latent infection. Host immune responses during mycobacterial infection involve potent cell effector functions including that of CD4+, CD8+ and γδT cells, macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Further, the critical regulators of protective immunity to mycobacterial infection include IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-23, TNF-α, lymphotoxins, CD40, nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species. However, the success of mycobacterial infection often relies in its ability to evade immune surveillance mechanisms mediated by sentinels of host immunity by modulating host signal transduction pathways and expression of immunoregulatory molecules. Therefore, the key to control mycobacterial growth and limit pathogenesis lies in the understanding the interactions between Mycobacterium and primary responders like macrophages and DCs. In this scenario, the role of pattern recognition receptors (PPRs) in orchestrating host immune responses assumes central importance. The cell surface receptors play crucial role in influencing overall immune responses. Of the PRRs, the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) form key immune surveillance mechanisms in recognition as well as control of mycobacterial infection. Among them, TLR2 is the primary interacting receptor on antigen presenting cells that recognize the invading mycobacteria. Mycobacterial cell wall constituents such as LAM, LM, PIM and 19-kDa protein have been shown to activate TLR2 signaling leading to proinflammatory responses. Recent reports have suggested that PE_PGRS antigens of M. tuberculosis interact with TLR2. For example, RV0754, Rv0978c, RV1917c have been implicated in modulation of human DCs. The 19-kDa lipoprotein, LpqH (Rv3763) and LprG (Rv1411c) utilize TLR2 signaling to inhibit macrophage responsiveness to IFN-γ triggered MHC class II expression and mycobacterial antigen presentation. Interestingly, recognition and amplification of pathogenic-specific signaling events play important roles in not only discriminating the invading microbes, but also in regulating explicit immune responses. In this context, integration of key signaling centers, which modulate host immunity to pathogenic mycobacterial infections, remains unexplored. In accordance to above observations, signal transduction pathways downstream to TLRs play a critical role in modulation of battery of host cells genes in terms of expression and production of immune modulatory cytokines and chemokines, recruitment of cellular machineries to site of infections etc. This suggests the decisive role for TLRs in modulation of host cell fate decisions. However, during the ensuing immunity to invading pathogens, beside TLR signaling pathways, various other signaling molecules are thought to execute specific functions in divergent cellular contexts. Recent studies from our laboratory have clearly demarcated a novel cross talk of TLR2-NOTCH1 and TLR2-Wnt signaling pathways during mycobacterial infections. The current study primary focuses on the broad range of cross talk of TLR2 and Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathways and its functional significance. The present investigation demonstrates that M. bovis BCG, a vaccine strain, triggers a robust activation of SHH signaling in macrophages compared to infection with diverse Gram-positive or Gram-negative microbes. This observation was further evidenced by the heightened SHH signaling signatures during in vivo scenario in cells /tissues from pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) individuals as well as tuberculous meningitis (TBM) patients. Furthermore, we show that the sustained TNF-α secretion by macrophages upon infection with M. bovis BCG is a critical necessity for SHH activation. Significantly, perturbation studies implicate a vital role for M. bovis BCG stimulated TLR2/PI3K/PKC/MAPK/NF-κB axis to induce TNF-α, that contributes to enhance SHH signaling. The TNF-α driven SHH signaling downregulates M. bovis BCG induced TLR2 signaling events leading to modulation of battery of genes that regulate various functions of macrophages genes like Vegf-a, Socs-3, Cox-2, Mmp-9 and M1/M2 genes. Importantly, utilizing whole-genome microRNA (miRNA) profiling, roles for specific miRNAs were identified as the molecular regulators that bring about the negative-feedback loop comprising TLR2-SHH signaling events. Thus, the current study illustrates how SHH signaling tightly regulates the kinetics and strengths of M. bovis BCG specific TLR2 responses, emphasizing a novel role for SHH signaling in host immune responses to mycobacterial infections. As described, variety of host factors contributes for ensuing effective host defenses and modulation of host cell fate decisions. Interestingly, avirulent pathogenic mycobacteria, including the vaccine strain M. bovis BCG, unlike virulent M. tuberculosis, cause extensive apoptosis of infected macrophages, which suggests a significant contribution of the apoptosis process to the initiation and subsequent amplification of innate as well as adaptive immune responses. Among various cues that could lead to apoptosis of host cells, the initiation of the apoptotic machinery by posttranscriptional mechanisms assumes significant importance. Among posttranscriptional control mechanisms, miRNAs are suggested to regulate several biological processes including immune responses. Various effectors of host immunity are known to be regulated by several miRNAs, and a prominent one among them, miRNA-155 (miR-155), often exhibits crucial roles during innate or adaptive immune responses. In this perspective, we identified a novel role of miR-155 during M. bovis BCG induced apoptosis of macrophages. The genetic and signaling perturbations data suggested that miR-155 regulates PKA signaling by directly targeting a negative regulator of PKA, protein kinase inhibitor alpha (PKI-α). Enhanced activation of PKA signaling resulted in induced expression of the apoptotic genes as well as Caspase-3 cleavage and Cytochrome c translocation. Thus, augmented PKA signaling by M. bovis BCG-driven miR-155 dictates cell fate decisions of infected macrophages, emphasizing a novel role for miR-155 in host immunity to mycobacterial infections. In perspective of these studies, important directives are often comprised of sequential and coordinated activation of TLR and NLR-driven signal transduction pathways, thus exhibiting foremost influence in determining the overall strength of the innate immune responses. As described, TLR2 exhibits dominant role in sensing various agonists including pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) of microbes at the cell surface and generally considered as major effectuator of proinflammatory responses. Interestingly, NLRs like NOD1 or NOD2 often act in contrary, thus regulating anti-inflammatory responses as well as polarization of T cells towards skewed Th2 phenotype. This presents an interesting conundrum to functionality of DCs or macrophages in terms of effector functions during rapidly evolving immunological processes including effects originating from immunosuppressive effectors such as CTLA-4 or TGF-. DCs like macrophages are important sentinels of innate immunity, possesses array of PRRs that include TLRs and NOD-like receptors (NLRs). Signaling events associated with innate sensors like TLRs and NLRs often act as regulatory circuits that modulate the overall functions of DCs in terms of maturation process, cytokine or chemokine production, receptor expression, migration to secondary lymphoid organs for antigen presentation for effectuating Th polarization. TLR2, while acting as sensors for extracellular cues or endocytic network, drives signaling events in response to recognition of PAMPs including mycobacterial antigens like ESAT-6, PE_PGRS antigens, while NOD1 and NOD2 operate as cytosolic sensors initiating signaling pathways upon recognition of diaminopimelic acid (DAP) and muramyl dipeptide (MDP), components of bacterial peptidoglycan. Thus, TLRs or NOD receptors could trigger similar or contrasting immune responses by cooperative or non-cooperative sensing, consequently exhibiting immense complexity during combinatorial triggering of host DCs-PRR repertoire. In view of these observations, our current investigation comprehensively demonstrated that maturation process of human DCs were cooperatively regulated by signaling cascades initiated by engagements of TLR2, NOD1 and NOD2 receptors. Importantly, combined triggering of TLR2 and NOD receptors abolished the TGF-β or CTLA-4-mediated impairment of human DCs maturation, which required critical participation of NOTCH1-PI3K signaling cohorts. Thus, our data delineated the novel insights in modulation of macrophages and DCs effector functions by mycobacterial TLR2 or NOD agonists and broaden our understanding on the signal dynamics and integration of multiple signals from PRRs during mycobacterial infections. Altogether, our findings establish the understanding of conceptual frame work in fine tuning of TLR2 responses by SHH signaling as well as potential co-operativity among TLRs and NODs to modulate NOTCH1 dependent DCs maturation. Importantly, our study provides mechanistic and functional insights into various molecular regulators of macrophage cell fate decisions like miR-31. miR-150 and miR-155, which can fuel the search for attractive and effective drug targets and novel therapeutics to combat diseases of the hour like tuberculosis.

La pollution atmosphérique liée aux aérosols organiques secondaire (SOA) représente un des enjeux majeurs du XXIème siècle. La photochimie multiphasique des SOA constitue le coeur et l'originalité de cette thèse.Le réacteur photochimique permet de simuler en laboratoire, l'oxydation en phase aqueuse atmosphérique des composés organiques volatils biogéniques (BVOC), et notamment, la méthyl vinyl cétone (MVK), afin d'étudier la formation ces SOA.Nous étudions la réactivité de la MVK en présence de ●OH et sa capacité à oligomériser en fonction des concentrations initiales de MVK, d'oxygène, et de ●OH. Une large stratégie analytique basée sur la chromatographie liquide couplée à la spectrométrie de masse (MS) permet d'identifier des produits de réaction, et d'établir un mécanisme réactionnel, expliquant la formation des oligomères, leurs rendements et leur vieillissement.Les données colligées servent d'entrées à un modèle de boîte multiphasique, afin d'explorer la sensibilité de l'oligomérisation aux conditions atmosphériques.Ensuite, nous comparons la réactivité de la MVK en présence de ●OH à celle induite par la photolyse de l'acide pyruvique; puis nous mesurons la tension de surface engendrée par ces deux systèmes d'oligomères. Enfin, la mobilité ionique couplée à la MS permet d'observer la co-oligomérisation d'une gamme étendue de BVOC en présence de ●OH.L'oligomérisation atmosphérique implique (i) une concentration minimale de précurseurs pouvant être atteinte dans les aérosols humides via la co-oligomérisation; (ii) une réactivité en compétition avec l'oxygène dissous dans la phase aqueuse, et dont la pertinence atmosphérique reste à explorer. / Air pollution caused by secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is one of the major challenges of this century. We focus this thesis on SOA , through an innovative approach, i.e. multiphase photochemistry.The photochemical reactor allows to simulate in laboratory, the atmospheric aqueous phase oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) and in particular, methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), and thus, to study SOA.We study the reactivity of MVK in the presence of ●OH and its ability to oligomerize under various initial concentrations of oxygen, MVK and ●OH. A wide analytical strategy based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry is used to identify the reaction products, and establish a chemical mechanism. We focus on these oligomers systems, formation, yield and aging. Collected data are used as inputs to a multiphase box model to explore the sensitivity of oligomerization to the variations of physical and chemical atmospheric parameters. The photochemistry of pyruvic acid generates radical chemistry and initiates MVK oligomerization. We closely compare this reaction to MVK ●OH oxidation. Then, we measure the surface activity of both systems. The ability of oligomers to partition to the interface could affect the climate. Finally, we used ion mobility - mass spectrometry to observe ●OH co-oligomerization of a mixture of organic compounds most representative of the atmosphere.Atmospheric oligomerization implies (i) a minimal concentration of precursors that could be reached in wet aerosol via the co-oligomerization; (ii) a reactivity in competition with the addition of the dissolved oxygen, whose the atmospheric relevance remains to be explored.

Das Hauptthema dieser Dissertation ist die Untersuchung der Selbstorganisation organischer Moleküle an der Flüssig-Fest-Grenzfläche (LSI). Besondere Betonung liegt auf der Kontrolle der Selbstassemblierung durch geeignete Parameter: die Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung, die Konzentration der gelösten Moleküle, und die chemische Natur der gelösten Stoffe und Lösungsmittel. Die Untersuchungen wurden unter Verwendung der Rastertunnelmikroskopie (STM) durchgeführt. Der erste Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit ist die systematische Untersuchung der Auswirkung erhöhter Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung aus der Lösung auf die Selbstorganisation komplexer molekularer Architekturen an der LSI. Diese Untersuchungen wurden mit dem planaren Molekül Trimesinsäure (TMA), sowie dem nicht-planaren Molekül Benzen-1,3,5-triphosphonsäure (BTP) durchgeführt. Es wird gezeigt, dass der Polymorphismus der Adsorbatstrukturen von TMA und BTP durch die Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung der Moleküle aus der Lösung für verschiedene Lösungsmitteln unterschiedlicher Polarität, wie Phenyloctan, Octansäure und Undecanol, kontrolliert werden kann. Durch die Erhöhung der Temperatur des vorgeheiztem Graphitsubstrates kann die spezifische 2D supramolekulare Struktur and die entsprechende Packungsdichte der Moleküle in der Adsorbatschicht für jedes der untersuchten Lösungsmittel präzise eingestellt werden. Weiterhin wird der Einfluss der Konzentration auf die resultierende Anordnung der TMA Moleküle an der LSI durch ein weiteres Experiment abgeschätzt, bei welchem Rühren (von 0 h bis 40 h) der Lösungen mit verschiedenen Lösungsmitteln eingesetzt wurde. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die verschiedenen Präparationsmethoden (Erhöhung der Abscheidetemperatur oder Rühren) zu derselben Tendenz der Änderung der geordneten Strukturen sowie der Packungsdichte führt, weswegen man schlussfolgern kann, dass die Erhöhung der Konzentration an der LSI bei erhöhter Abscheidetemperatur ebenso der Hauptgrund für die beobachteten Änderungen ist. Der zweite Schwerpunkt dieser Dissertation ist die Untersuchung von chemischen Reaktionen der selbstassemblierenden Moleküle. Eine Veresterungsreaktion von TMA mit Undecanol wurde gefunden. Weiterhin wurde, als ein erster Schritt zur Untersuchung der Zwillingspolymerisation, die Oligomerisation des Zwillingsmonomers 2,2’-spirobi [4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) mit STM an der Grenzfläche zwischen der SBS-Undecanol-Lösung und einer Graphitoberfläche untersucht. Erstens wurde durch Ultraschallbehandlung der SBS Lösung in Undecanol für verschieden lange Zeiten die Oligomerisation der SBS Monomere ohne einen Katalysator an der LSI beobachtet. Zweitens konnte die Oligomerisation auch durch Erhöhung der Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung der Moleküle aus der Lösung initiiert werden. Durch die schrittweise Erhöhung der Temperatur des vorgeheizten Substrates konnten mehrere, verschiedene, periodische Anordnungen von Phenol‒Dimeren, ‒Trimeren, und –Pentameren u.s.w. gefunden werden. Weiterhin wird die Auswirkung der Abscheidetemperatur auf die Selbstorganisation an der LSI nur der Lösungsmittelmoleküle aus dem reinen Lösungsmittel beschrieben. Dies ist wichtig, da die Undecanol‒Moleküle stets mit den gelösten, in dieser Arbeit verwendeten Stoffen (TMA, BTP, SBS) koadsorbieren und lineare Muster bilden. / The main aim of this thesis is to study the self-assembly of organic molecules at the liquid-solid interface (LSI). Special emphasis is given to controlling the process of self-assembly via suitable parameters such as: the substrate temperature during the initial deposition, the concentration of dissolved molecules, or the chemical nature of solutes and solvents. The investigations are performed using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The first focus of this work is the systematic investigation of the effect of the substrate temperature during the deposition out of the solution on the self-assembly of complex molecular architectures at the LSI. These investigations have been done with the planar molecule trimesic acid (TMA), and the non-planar molecule benzene 1,3,5-triphosphonic acid (BTP). We show that the polymorphism of the adsorbate structures of TMA (also with BTP) can be controlled by the substrate temperature during the deposition of the molecules out of the solution for various solvents of different polarity such as phenyloctane, octanoic acid, and undecanol. By increasing the temperature of the pre-heated graphite substrate, the specific 2D supramolecular structure and the corresponding packing density in the adsorbate layer can be precisely tuned for each kind of the solvents studied. Furthermore, the influence of the concentration on the resulting self-assembly of TMA molecules at the LSI is estimated by another experiment using stirring (from 0 h to 40 h) of the solutions of different kinds of solvents. These results demonstrate that choosing different preparation methods (increasing deposition temperatures or stirring) lead to the same tendency in the change of the self-assembled structures as well as the tuning of the packing density from which it can also be concluded that the increase of the concentration at increased deposition temperatures is also the main reason for the observed changes. The second focus of this work is the investigation of chemical reactions of self-assembling molecules. The esterification of TMA with undecanol was observed. Moreover as a first step to study twin polymerization, the oligomerization of the twin monomer 2,2’-spirobi [4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) was investigated by STM at the SBS-undecanol solution/graphite interface. Firstly, by ultrasonicating the solution of SBS in undecanol for different times the oligomerization of SBS monomer without any catalyst has been observed at the LSI. Secondly, the oligomerization of SBS monomer can also be initiated by the substrate temperature during the deposition of the molecules out of the solution. By stepwise increasing the temperature of the pre-heated substrate, various periodic assemblies of phenolic dimer, trimer, pentamer resin, and so on were observed. Furthermore, the effect of deposition temperature on the self-assembly of solely solvent molecules from the pure liquid at the LSI is described, which is important because the undecanol solvent molecules are always co-adsorbed with the solutes used in this work (TMA, BTP, SBS) to form linear patterns.

Das Hauptthema dieser Dissertation ist die Untersuchung der Selbstorganisation organischer Moleküle an der Flüssig-Fest-Grenzfläche (LSI). Besondere Betonung liegt auf der Kontrolle der Selbstassemblierung durch geeignete Parameter: die Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung, die Konzentration der gelösten Moleküle, und die chemische Natur der gelösten Stoffe und Lösungsmittel. Die Untersuchungen wurden unter Verwendung der Rastertunnelmikroskopie (STM) durchgeführt. Der erste Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit ist die systematische Untersuchung der Auswirkung erhöhter Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung aus der Lösung auf die Selbstorganisation komplexer molekularer Architekturen an der LSI. Diese Untersuchungen wurden mit dem planaren Molekül Trimesinsäure (TMA), sowie dem nicht-planaren Molekül Benzen-1,3,5-triphosphonsäure (BTP) durchgeführt. Es wird gezeigt, dass der Polymorphismus der Adsorbatstrukturen von TMA und BTP durch die Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung der Moleküle aus der Lösung für verschiedene Lösungsmitteln unterschiedlicher Polarität, wie Phenyloctan, Octansäure und Undecanol, kontrolliert werden kann. Durch die Erhöhung der Temperatur des vorgeheiztem Graphitsubstrates kann die spezifische 2D supramolekulare Struktur and die entsprechende Packungsdichte der Moleküle in der Adsorbatschicht für jedes der untersuchten Lösungsmittel präzise eingestellt werden. Weiterhin wird der Einfluss der Konzentration auf die resultierende Anordnung der TMA Moleküle an der LSI durch ein weiteres Experiment abgeschätzt, bei welchem Rühren (von 0 h bis 40 h) der Lösungen mit verschiedenen Lösungsmitteln eingesetzt wurde. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die verschiedenen Präparationsmethoden (Erhöhung der Abscheidetemperatur oder Rühren) zu derselben Tendenz der Änderung der geordneten Strukturen sowie der Packungsdichte führt, weswegen man schlussfolgern kann, dass die Erhöhung der Konzentration an der LSI bei erhöhter Abscheidetemperatur ebenso der Hauptgrund für die beobachteten Änderungen ist. Der zweite Schwerpunkt dieser Dissertation ist die Untersuchung von chemischen Reaktionen der selbstassemblierenden Moleküle. Eine Veresterungsreaktion von TMA mit Undecanol wurde gefunden. Weiterhin wurde, als ein erster Schritt zur Untersuchung der Zwillingspolymerisation, die Oligomerisation des Zwillingsmonomers 2,2’-spirobi [4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) mit STM an der Grenzfläche zwischen der SBS-Undecanol-Lösung und einer Graphitoberfläche untersucht. Erstens wurde durch Ultraschallbehandlung der SBS Lösung in Undecanol für verschieden lange Zeiten die Oligomerisation der SBS Monomere ohne einen Katalysator an der LSI beobachtet. Zweitens konnte die Oligomerisation auch durch Erhöhung der Substrattemperatur während der Abscheidung der Moleküle aus der Lösung initiiert werden. Durch die schrittweise Erhöhung der Temperatur des vorgeheizten Substrates konnten mehrere, verschiedene, periodische Anordnungen von Phenol‒Dimeren, ‒Trimeren, und –Pentameren u.s.w. gefunden werden. Weiterhin wird die Auswirkung der Abscheidetemperatur auf die Selbstorganisation an der LSI nur der Lösungsmittelmoleküle aus dem reinen Lösungsmittel beschrieben. Dies ist wichtig, da die Undecanol‒Moleküle stets mit den gelösten, in dieser Arbeit verwendeten Stoffen (TMA, BTP, SBS) koadsorbieren und lineare Muster bilden.:Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Basic principle 2.1 Principles of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) 2.1.1 General working principle 2.1.2 Tunneling effect 2.1.3 Theory of STM 2.1.4 Contrast mechanism of molecular adsorbates 2.1.5 Modes of STM operation 2.2 STM at the liquid-solid interface (LSI) 2.3 Thermodynamics and kinetics 2.3.1 Equilibrium of the adsorption/desorption and initial agglomeration at the LSI 2.3.2 Kinetic and thermodynamic control over 2D molecular self-assembly 2.4 Experimental condition 2.4.1 Role of solvent 2.4.2 Role of concentration 2.4.3 Role of temperature References Chapter 3: Experimental section 3.1 Solutes 3.1.1 Trimesic acid (TMA) (1,3,5?C6H3(COOH)3) 3.1.2 Benzene 1.3.5-Triphosphonic acid (BTP) (1,3,5?C6H3(PO3H2)3) 3.1.3 Twin monomer 2,2’-spirobi[4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) 3.2 Solvents 3.3 Substrate: Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG (0001)) 3.4 Preparation of the STM tips 3.5 Experimental methods for sample preparation 3.5.1 Preparation of the solution 3.5.2 Heating of the substrate 3.5.3 Ultrasonication 3.5.4 Stirring 3.6 Computational details References Chapter 4: Deposition temperature? and solvent-dependent 2D supramolecular assemblies of trimesic acid at the liquid-graphite interface revealed by STM Results and discussion 4.1 Hydrogen bonding motifs of trimesic acid molecules 4.2 TMA deposited from solution in octanoic acid 4.3 TMA deposited from solution in phenyloctane 4.4 TMA deposited from solution in undecanol 4.6 Discussion of the solute–solvent interactions 4.5 Effect of the deposition substrate temperature on the formation of ester at the LSI of TMA in undecanol Conclusion References Chapter 5: Role of concentration on the self-assembly of TMA at the LSI influenced by stirring time Results and discussion 5.1 TMA in octanoic acid 5.2 TMA in phenyloctane 5.3 TMA in undecanol Conclusion References Chapter 6: Role of deposition temperature on the self-assembly of the non-planar molecule benzene- 1,3,5- triphosphonic acid (BTP) at the LSI Results and discussion 6.1 BTP in undecanol at room temperature 6.2 BTP in undecanol at high substrate temperature during deposition Conclusion References Chapter 7: Role of deposition temperature on the self-assembly of pure undecanol solvent at the LSI Results and discussion 7.1 Adsorption geometry of undecanol on HOPG 7.2 Herringbone structures of undecanol 7.3 Parallel structure of undecanol at high substrate temperature during deposition Conclusion References Chapter 8: A first step to microscopically study twinpolymerization: self-assembly of twin monomer 2,2’-Spirobi[4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) at the LSI influenced by ultrasonication and deposition substrate temperature 8.1 Coadsorption of SBS and undecanol without ultrasonication and at room temperature 8.2 SBS deposited from solution in undecanol in dependence on the duration of ultrasonication 8.3 SBS deposited from solution in undecanol at varied deposition temperature of the substrate 8.4 Discussion and open questions Appendix References CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK ERKLÄRUNG CURRICULUM VITAE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT / The main aim of this thesis is to study the self-assembly of organic molecules at the liquid-solid interface (LSI). Special emphasis is given to controlling the process of self-assembly via suitable parameters such as: the substrate temperature during the initial deposition, the concentration of dissolved molecules, or the chemical nature of solutes and solvents. The investigations are performed using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The first focus of this work is the systematic investigation of the effect of the substrate temperature during the deposition out of the solution on the self-assembly of complex molecular architectures at the LSI. These investigations have been done with the planar molecule trimesic acid (TMA), and the non-planar molecule benzene 1,3,5-triphosphonic acid (BTP). We show that the polymorphism of the adsorbate structures of TMA (also with BTP) can be controlled by the substrate temperature during the deposition of the molecules out of the solution for various solvents of different polarity such as phenyloctane, octanoic acid, and undecanol. By increasing the temperature of the pre-heated graphite substrate, the specific 2D supramolecular structure and the corresponding packing density in the adsorbate layer can be precisely tuned for each kind of the solvents studied. Furthermore, the influence of the concentration on the resulting self-assembly of TMA molecules at the LSI is estimated by another experiment using stirring (from 0 h to 40 h) of the solutions of different kinds of solvents. These results demonstrate that choosing different preparation methods (increasing deposition temperatures or stirring) lead to the same tendency in the change of the self-assembled structures as well as the tuning of the packing density from which it can also be concluded that the increase of the concentration at increased deposition temperatures is also the main reason for the observed changes. The second focus of this work is the investigation of chemical reactions of self-assembling molecules. The esterification of TMA with undecanol was observed. Moreover as a first step to study twin polymerization, the oligomerization of the twin monomer 2,2’-spirobi [4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) was investigated by STM at the SBS-undecanol solution/graphite interface. Firstly, by ultrasonicating the solution of SBS in undecanol for different times the oligomerization of SBS monomer without any catalyst has been observed at the LSI. Secondly, the oligomerization of SBS monomer can also be initiated by the substrate temperature during the deposition of the molecules out of the solution. By stepwise increasing the temperature of the pre-heated substrate, various periodic assemblies of phenolic dimer, trimer, pentamer resin, and so on were observed. Furthermore, the effect of deposition temperature on the self-assembly of solely solvent molecules from the pure liquid at the LSI is described, which is important because the undecanol solvent molecules are always co-adsorbed with the solutes used in this work (TMA, BTP, SBS) to form linear patterns.:Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Basic principle 2.1 Principles of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) 2.1.1 General working principle 2.1.2 Tunneling effect 2.1.3 Theory of STM 2.1.4 Contrast mechanism of molecular adsorbates 2.1.5 Modes of STM operation 2.2 STM at the liquid-solid interface (LSI) 2.3 Thermodynamics and kinetics 2.3.1 Equilibrium of the adsorption/desorption and initial agglomeration at the LSI 2.3.2 Kinetic and thermodynamic control over 2D molecular self-assembly 2.4 Experimental condition 2.4.1 Role of solvent 2.4.2 Role of concentration 2.4.3 Role of temperature References Chapter 3: Experimental section 3.1 Solutes 3.1.1 Trimesic acid (TMA) (1,3,5?C6H3(COOH)3) 3.1.2 Benzene 1.3.5-Triphosphonic acid (BTP) (1,3,5?C6H3(PO3H2)3) 3.1.3 Twin monomer 2,2’-spirobi[4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) 3.2 Solvents 3.3 Substrate: Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG (0001)) 3.4 Preparation of the STM tips 3.5 Experimental methods for sample preparation 3.5.1 Preparation of the solution 3.5.2 Heating of the substrate 3.5.3 Ultrasonication 3.5.4 Stirring 3.6 Computational details References Chapter 4: Deposition temperature? and solvent-dependent 2D supramolecular assemblies of trimesic acid at the liquid-graphite interface revealed by STM Results and discussion 4.1 Hydrogen bonding motifs of trimesic acid molecules 4.2 TMA deposited from solution in octanoic acid 4.3 TMA deposited from solution in phenyloctane 4.4 TMA deposited from solution in undecanol 4.6 Discussion of the solute–solvent interactions 4.5 Effect of the deposition substrate temperature on the formation of ester at the LSI of TMA in undecanol Conclusion References Chapter 5: Role of concentration on the self-assembly of TMA at the LSI influenced by stirring time Results and discussion 5.1 TMA in octanoic acid 5.2 TMA in phenyloctane 5.3 TMA in undecanol Conclusion References Chapter 6: Role of deposition temperature on the self-assembly of the non-planar molecule benzene- 1,3,5- triphosphonic acid (BTP) at the LSI Results and discussion 6.1 BTP in undecanol at room temperature 6.2 BTP in undecanol at high substrate temperature during deposition Conclusion References Chapter 7: Role of deposition temperature on the self-assembly of pure undecanol solvent at the LSI Results and discussion 7.1 Adsorption geometry of undecanol on HOPG 7.2 Herringbone structures of undecanol 7.3 Parallel structure of undecanol at high substrate temperature during deposition Conclusion References Chapter 8: A first step to microscopically study twinpolymerization: self-assembly of twin monomer 2,2’-Spirobi[4H-1,3,2-benzo-dioxasiline] (SBS) at the LSI influenced by ultrasonication and deposition substrate temperature 8.1 Coadsorption of SBS and undecanol without ultrasonication and at room temperature 8.2 SBS deposited from solution in undecanol in dependence on the duration of ultrasonication 8.3 SBS deposited from solution in undecanol at varied deposition temperature of the substrate 8.4 Discussion and open questions Appendix References CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK ERKLÄRUNG CURRICULUM VITAE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT