The
adsorption of tetracyanoquinodimethane and of the closely related
derivative tetrafluorotetracyanoquinodimethane on the (111) surfaces
of the coinage metals, namely, copper, silver, and (unreconstructed)
gold, has been studied by dispersion-corrected ab initio density functional
theory calculations. In order to separate the molecule–substrate
interaction from the effects of molecule–molecule interaction,
only the isolated molecules are considered. The results show that,
in this case, the strength of the interaction of both molecules with
the surfaces decreases in the expected order Cu > Ag > Au. The
total
amount of charge transfer, however, behaves in a different way, being
larger for Ag and smaller for Cu and Au. This trend can be explained
by a combination of the differences in the work functions of the three
metals and the amount of backdonation between the molecule and the
metal.