Sequential Bending and Twisting around C-C Single Bonds by Mechanical Lifting of a Pre-Adsorbed Polymer

Bending and twisting around carbon-carbon single bonds are ubiquitous in natural and synthetic polymers. Force-induced changes were so far not measured at the single-monomer level, owing to limited ways to apply local forces. We quantified down to the submolecular level the mechanical response within individual poly-pyrenylene chains upon their detachment from a gold surface with an atomic force microscope at 5 K. Computer simulations based on a dedicated force field reproduce the experimental traces and reveal symmetry-broken bent and rotated conformations of the sliding physisorbed segment besides steric hindrance of the just lifted monomer. Our study also shows that the tip-molecule bond remains intact but remarkably soft and links force variations to complex but well-defined conformational changes.