In this thesis, routes toward Nickel-porphyrin functionalised graphene nanoribbon (GNR) formation on the Au(111) and Au(788) surface are investigated. The on-surface synthesis of 7-carbon atom-wide armchair graphene nanoribbons (7AGNR) using 10,10’-dibromo-9,9’ bianthryl (DBBA) and the formation of (4,1) chiral graphene nanoribbons (CGNR) from an oxygen and boron (OBO) doped precursor molecules is achieved on both gold surfaces. The formation of these nanoscale structures holds promise for future molecular electronics and sensor technology. The process of self-assembly, polymerisation, and covalent bonding of DBBA precursors to form 7-AGNRs and porphyrin functionalised 7-AGNR was studied using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). The DBBA molecules were found to selfassemble into rows on the Au(788) surface, while a mixture of rows and “florets” were observed on the Au(111) surface. Debrominated Ni-DBTPP formed porphyrin chains on the Au(111) surface. Under co-deposition of DBBA and Ni-DBTPP functionalised 7-AGNRs were formed on the Au(111). Different GNR-porphyrin-GNR heterojunction assemblies are identified on both gold surfaces. The impact of molecular surface coverage was studied, and the initial coverage of the precursor was found to play a role in the length of the ribbons formed on Au(111) while the templating effect of the vicinal Au(788) surface significantly increased the length and alignment of porphyrin functionalized 7-AGNR at monolayer coverage. The sublimation temperatures and deposition rates were found for DBBA, OBO and Ni(II) 5,15-dibromo-10,20-tetraphenyl porphyrin (Ni-DBTPP). The transition of OBO precursor molecules from individual molecules to polymer chains and (4,1)-CGNRs on Au(111) surface was studied using STM. A model of the chemical environment of carbon atoms is developed and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to track the evolution of the C 1s core level in the OBO molecules following dehalogenation and cyclodehydrogenation. Partial debromination of OBO molecules was found to occur at lower temperatures than the debromination process in DBBA. Self-assemblies of OBO molecules are observed to be dominated by O – H interactions. A (2×1) reconstruction of both gold surfaces is observed for all three molecules when the surface is annealed. Porphyrin functionalised (4,1) CGNR were formed on both gold surfaces with a coverage of less than a monolayer. A double deposition protocol is described for growing long, aligned (4,1) CGNRs on the Au(788) surface.