Single-Molecule Imaging of Platinum Ligand Exchange Reaction Reveals Reactivity Distribution

Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy provided information about the real-time distribution of chemical reactivity on silicon oxide supports at the solution surface interface, at a level of detail which would be unavailable from a traditional ensemble technique or from a technique that imaged the static physical properties of the surface. Chemical reactions on the surface were found to be uncorrelated; that is, the chemical reaction of one metal complex did not influence the location of a future chemical reaction of another metal complex.