While self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of aromatic thiolates are frequently used in a wide range of applications, their formation is often hampered by the low solubilities of their precursors. Here we introduce the 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl group as a protective group for the thiol moiety, which increases the solubility and stability of the precursor, but becomes cleaved off during monolayer formation, especially at elevated temperature (60 °C) and in presence of protons (trifluoroacetic acid). For a series of substituted terphenylthiols as model systems, it could be demonstrated by using ellipsometry, infrared-reflection absorption spectroscopy, and scanning-tunneling microscopy that the resulting SAMs have the same structure and quality as the ones obtained from the respective unprotected thiols. The protective group has the additional advantage to be stable under Pd-catalyzed C-C bond formation reaction conditions, facilitating the syntheses of the respective precursors.

虽然芳族硫醇盐的自组装单分子层 (SAM) 经常用于广泛的应用，但它们的形成往往受到其前体溶解度低的阻碍。在这里，我们引入 3,4-二甲氧基苄基作为硫醇部分的保护基团，这增加了前体的溶解度和稳定性，但在单层形成过程中被裂解，特别是在高温（60°C）和存在质子（三氟乙酸）。对于一系列取代的三联苯硫醇作为模型系统，可以通过椭圆光度法、红外反射吸收光谱和扫描隧道显微镜证明，得到的 SAM 与从各自未受保护的硫醇中获得的 SAM 具有相同的结构和质量。