Surface behavior and imaging of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of indolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-6,12-dione (tryptanthrin) via scanning tunneling microscopy

Indolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-6,12-dione (tryptanthrin) was imaged at the solution-graphite interface using scanning tunneling microscopy. STM images of the molecular monolayers show clear lobe-to-lobe resolution of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals of the molecules, as well as a somewhat unusual parallel arrangement of the molecular dipoles. Evaluation of the dipole-dipole interactions reveals that the interactions of the closest molecule pairs are reduced due to a magic angle-like effect. These results represent an important step toward a more in-depth understanding of the behavior of tryptanthrins, which are of interest due to their potential as pharmaceutical compounds.