Nickel salophens exclusively form monolayers at a liquid-solid interface, while in contrast zinc salophens mainly self-assemble into bilayers via axial ligand self-coordination which can be disrupted by the addition of pyridine axial ligands.
Axial ligand control over monolayer and bilayer formation of metal-salophens at the liquid–solid interface
Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 2548-2550.