Inserting, removing or swapping individual atoms from the core of a molecule is a long-standing challenge in chemistry. This process, called skeletal editing, can dramatically speed up drug discovery or be applied for upcycling of plastics. Consequently, the field is witnessing a surge of interest spanning from fundamental chemical research to applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

A group of researchers have now extended the scope of skeletal editing to the scale of just a single molecule. Such a level of precision in skeletal editing is unprecedented, and this may open a new route to obtain elusive molecules.

The team of researchers are active at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; IBM Research Europe—Zurich, Switzerland; and CiQUS at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In a recent article published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they demonstrate how, in a controlled manner, they can selectively remove a single oxygen atom from an organic molecule using the sharp tip of a scanning probe microscope.