Guanine quartet networks stabilized by cooperative hydrogen bonds

(Figure Presented) String quartets: Guanine molecules self-assemble into a hydrogen-bonded network of G quartets upon deposition under ultrahigh vacuum conditions onto Au(111) surfaces as shown by STM (see picture). The resilience of the H-bonded network (stable up to 400 K) is explained through a cooperative increase in the strength of H-bonds between guanine molecules in a quartet. © 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.