Conformations and controlled manipulation of a long molecular wire on Cu(1 1 1)

Low temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy is employed to investigate in detail the conformations of single Violet Lander molecules (C108H104) on Cu(1 1 1). The molecule consists of a long polyaromatic molecular board supported by four spacer legs. Several conformations, corresponding to different positions of the legs, are observed and characterised, showing that a much larger variety of conformations is possible compared with the other molecules of the Lander family. This is due to the longer central board and the consequently larger distance between the legs. Moreover, tip-induced conformational changes and molecular displacement are achieved in manipulation experiments.