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The purpose of a molecular motor is to convert external energy into unidirectional motion. Feringa-type molecular motors, in which double-bond isomerisation leads to large geometric changes in the molecule, are known to undergo rapid unidirectional motion in solution but often have a reduced function when adsorbed on a surface. In contrast, recently discovered adsorbate motors [1] do not exhibit large structural changes and thus their motion is efficient and unidirectional when adsorbed on a metal surface. Using a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), we track such motion at the single-molecule scale. The motion is triggered by an internal proton transfer reaction. We further show that, by altering the local chemical structure, this tautomerisation can be affected and may result in modulation of the unidirectional molecular translation.
[1] G. J. Simpson, M. Persson, L. Grill, Nature, 621, 82-86 (2023)