Standing at order: Thin films of organic molecules on solid substrates tend to nucleate at many sites and grow multiple domains. However, one large uniform film would be much more desirable in device applications. Seiki et al. designed organic molecules that filled space in a hexagonal tiling; a propeller-like triptycene base adhered to crystalline surfaces and alkyl tails extended away from it. The authors could make well-ordered multilayer films up to centimeter length scales. Science , this issue p. 1122

C–C bond coupling reactions illustrate the wealth of organic transformations, which are usually mediated by organotransition metal complexes. Here, we show that a borafluorene with a B–Cl moiety can mediate sequential alkyne insertion (1,2-carboboration) and deborylation/Csp²–Csp² coupling reactions, leading to aromatic molecules. The first step, which affords a borepin derivative, proceeds very efficiently between the borafluorene and various alkynes by simply mixing these two components. The second step is triggered by a one-electron oxidation of the borepin derivative, which results in the formation of a phenanthrene framework. When an excess amount of oxidant is used in the second step, the phenanthrene derivatives can be further transformed in situ to afford dibenzo[g,p]chrysene derivatives. The results presented herein will substantially expand the understanding of main group chemistry and provide a powerful synthetic tool for the construction of a wide variety of extended π-conjugated systems.

This perspective describes the construction of 0D–3D organic and polymeric architectures using “robust” supramolecular scaffolds.