Selectivity in Single-Molecule Reactions by Tip-Induced Redox Chemistry
Dr. Florian Albrecht, IBM Research, Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland
Since the first experiments by S.-W. Hla in 2000 [S.-W. Hla et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2777 (2000)], tip-induced on-surface synthesis is an active field. Not only in on-surface chemistry, selective control over the outcome of a reaction is a major quest. Here, we activate a molecule adsorbed on ultrathin insulating films by dehalogenation and perform selective constitutional isomerization reactions. The selectivity is controlled by the polarity and amplitude of applied voltage pulses. The insulating films stabilize the isomers in different charge states and allow for their characterization. The importance of molecular charge state on the reaction is supported by DFT-derived isomerization energy landscape.