title: Spectroscopic scanning tunneling microscopy studies of single surface-supported free-base corroles.
abstract: Corroles are versatile chemically active agents in solution. Expanding their applications toward surface-supported systems requires a fundamental knowledge of corrole-surface interactions. We employed the tip of a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope as local probe to investigate at the single-molecule level the electronic and geometric properties of surface-supported free-base corrole molecules. To provide a suitable reference for other corrole-based systems on surfaces, we chose the archetypal 5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole [H(3)(TpFPC)] as model system, weakly adsorbed on two surfaces with different interaction strengths. We demonstrate the nondissociative adsorption of H(3)(TpFPC) on pristine Au(111) and on an intermediate organic layer that provides sufficient electronic decoupling to investigate geometric and frontier orbital electronic properties of almost undisturbed H(3)(TpFPC) molecules at the submolecular level. We identify a deviating adsorption behavior of H(3)(TpFPC) compared to structurally similar porphyrins, characterized by a chiral pair of molecule-substrate configurations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Semiconductor and Solid State Physics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, 4040 Linz, Austria.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rashidi
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Müllegger
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roithner
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schöfberger
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D008665:Metalloporphyrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013499:Surface Properties; D005464:Fluorobenzenes; D005466:Fluorocarbons
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D008665:Metalloporphyrins; C442264:tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole; D005464:Fluorobenzenes; D005466:Fluorocarbons