Addressing Long-Standing Chemical Challenges by AFM with Functionalized Tips

Abstract

In this chapter, we illustrate the great potential of combining organic synthesis with atomic resolution AFM and STM to address relevant and classic issues in chemistry, by summarizing selected examples in which we were involved in recent years. As case studies, the long-standing chemical challenges covered here include the experimental discrimination of bond orders in single molecules, the characterization of extremely insoluble compounds such as nanographenes, the analysis of the individual components of complex mixtures, and the on-surface generation and identification of highly reactive molecules and intermediates.