Technologies for investigating single-molecule chemical reactions

Abstract

Single molecules, the smallest independently stable units in the material world, serve as the fundamental building blocks of matters. Among different branches of single-molecule sciences, single-molecule chemical reactions, by revealing the behavior and properties of individual molecules at the molecular scale, are particularly attractive because they can advance the understanding of chemical reaction mechanisms and help to address key scientific problems in broad fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science. This review provides a timely, comprehensive overview of single-molecule chemical reactions based on various technical platforms such as scanning probe microscopy, single-molecule junction, single nanostructure, single-molecule fluorescence detection, and crossed molecular beam. We present multidimensional analyses of single-molecule chemical reactions, offering new perspectives for research in different areas like photocatalysis/electrocatalysis, organic reactions, surface reactions, and biological reactions. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges in this thriving field of single-molecule chemical reaction.