Fast Molecular Compression by a Hyperthermal Collision Gives Bond-Selective Mechanochemistry

Using electrospray ion beam deposition, we collide the complex molecule Reichardt's Dye (C41H30NO+) at low, hyperthermal translational energy (2-50 eV) with a Cu(100) surface and image outcome single-molecule level by scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe bond-selective reaction induced kinetic energy. The collision impulse compresses bends specific bonds, prompting them to react selectively. This dynamics drives system seek thermally inaccessible reactive pathways, since compression timescale (sub-ps) is much shorter than thermalization (ns), thereby yielding products that are unobtainable thermally.