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   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02480  

   Lee, Stephen A.; Biteen, Julie S. (October 2019, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters)
2. Tip-Enhanced Raman Imaging of Single-Stranded DNA with Single Base Resolution

   https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b11506  

   He, Zhe; Han, Zehua; Kizer, Megan; Linhardt, Robert J.; Wang, Xing; Sinyukov, Alexander M.; Wang, Jizhou; Deckert, Volker; Sokolov, Alexei V.; Hu, Jonathan; et al (January 2019, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
3. Single ionization of molecular iodine

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.013410  

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4. Single‐Molecule Conductance of Staffanes

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202415978  

   Pimentel, Ashley E; Pham, Lan D; Carta, Veronica; Su, Timothy A (January 2025, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Abstract We report the first conductance measurements of [n]staffane (bicyclopentane) oligomers in single‐molecule junctions. Our studies reveal two quantum transport characteristics unique to staffanes that emerge from their strained bicyclic structure. First, though staffanes are composed of weakly conjugated C−Cσ‐bonds, staffanes carry a shallower conductance decay value (β=0.84±0.02 n⁻¹) than alkane chain analogs (β=0.96±0.03 n⁻¹) when measured with the scanning tunneling microscopy break junction (STM‐BJ) technique. Staffanes are thus more conductive than otherσ‐bonded organic backbones reported in the literature on a per atom basis. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest staffane backbones are more effective conduits for charge transport because their significant bicyclic ring strain destabilizes the HOMO‐2 energy, aligning it more closely with the Fermi energy of gold electrodes as oligomer order increases. Second, the monostaffane is significantly lower conducting than expected. DFT calculations suggest that short monostaffanes sterically enforce insulating gauche interelectrode orientations over syn orientations; these steric effects are alleviated in longer staffanes. Moreover, we find that [2‐5]staffane wires may accommodate axial mechanical strain by “rod‐bending”. These findings show for the first time how bicyclic ring strain can enhance charge transmission in saturated molecular wires. These studies showcase the STM‐BJ technique as a valuable tool for uncovering the stereoelectronic proclivities of molecules at material interfaces. 

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5. Chemically identifying single adatoms with single-bond sensitivity during oxidation reactions of borophene

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29445-8  

   Li, Linfei; Schultz, Jeremy F.; Mahapatra, Sayantan; Lu, Zhongyi; Zhang, Xu; Jiang, Nan (December 2022, Nature Communications)

   Abstract The chemical interrogation of individual atomic adsorbates on a surface significantly contributes to understanding the atomic-scale processes behind on-surface reactions. However, it remains highly challenging for current imaging or spectroscopic methods to achieve such a high chemical spatial resolution. Here we show that single oxygen adatoms on a boron monolayer (i.e., borophene) can be identified and mapped via ultrahigh vacuum tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (UHV-TERS) with ~4.8 Å spatial resolution and single bond (B–O) sensitivity. With this capability, we realize the atomically defined, chemically homogeneous, and thermally reversible oxidation of borophene via atomic oxygen in UHV. Furthermore, we reveal the propensity of borophene towards molecular oxygen activation at room temperature and phase-dependent chemical properties. In addition to offering atomic-level insights into the oxidation of borophene, this work demonstrates UHV-TERS as a powerful tool to probe the local chemistry of surface adsorbates in the atomic regime with widespread utilities in heterogeneous catalysis, on-surface molecular engineering, and low-dimensional materials. 

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