Ullmann coupling mediated assembly of an electrically driven altitudinal molecular rotor.

Surface-bound molecular rotation can occur with the rotational axis either perpendicular (azimuthal) or parallel (altitudinal) to the surface. The majority of molecular rotor studies involve azimuthal rotors, whereas very few altitudinal rotors have been reported. In this work, altitudinal rotors are formed by means of coupling aryl halides through a surface-mediated Ullmann coupling reaction, producing a reaction state-dependent altitudinal molecular rotor/stator.