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Updated: May 27, 2026
Light-driven Molecular Motors on Surfaces for Single Molecular Imaging
Published on: March 13, 2019
Toward a light-driven motorized nanocar: synthesis and initial imaging of single molecules
Pinn-Tsong Chiang1, Johannes Mielke, Jazmin Godoy
1Department of Chemistry, and the Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
Abstract:
A second generation motorized nanocar was designed, synthesized, and imaged. To verify structural integrity, NMR-based COSY, NOESY, DEPT, HSQC, and HMBC experiments were conducted on the intermediate motor. All signals in (1)H NMR were unambiguously assigned, and the results were consistent with the helical structure of the motor. The nanocar was deposited on a Cu(111) surface, and single intact molecules were imaged by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at 5.7 K, thereby paving the way for future single-molecule studies of this motorized nanocar atop planar substrates.
