Force-Activated Isomerization of a Single Molecule

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Jing Qi - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Yixuan Gao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Haihong Jia - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Marcus Richter - , Chair of Molecular Functional Materials (cfaed) (Author)
  • Li Huang - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Yun Cao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Huan Yang - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Qi Zheng - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Reinhard Berger - , Chair of Molecular Functional Materials (cfaed) (Author)
  • Junzhi Liu - , Chair of Molecular Functional Materials (cfaed) (Author)
  • Xiao Lin - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Hongliang Lu - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Zhihai Cheng - , Renmin University of China (Author)
  • Min Ouyang - , University of Maryland, College Park (Author)
  • Xinliang Feng - , Chair of Molecular Functional Materials (cfaed), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Author)
  • Shixuan Du - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Hong Jun Gao - , University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)

Abstract

Understanding and controlling isomerization at the single molecular level should provide new insight into the molecular dynamics and design guidelines of functional devices. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool to study isomerization of single molecules on a substrate, by either electric field or inelastic electron tunneling mechanisms. A similar molecular isomerization process can in principle be induced by mechanical force; however, relevant study has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that isomerization of a N,N-dimethylamino-dianthryl-benzene molecule on Ag(100) can be mechanically driven by the STM tip. The existence of an out-of-plane dimethylamino group in the molecule is found to play a pivotal role in the isomerization process by providing a steric hindrance effect for asymmetric interaction between the STM tip and the molecule. This underlying mechanism is further confirmed by performing molecular dynamics simulations, which show agreement with experimental results. Our work opens the opportunity to manipulate the molecular configuration on the basis of mechanical force.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10673-10680
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume142
Issue number24
Publication statusPublished - 17 Jun 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 32459961