Activation Energy for the Self‐Metalation Reaction of 2H‐Tetraphenylporphyrin on Cu(111)

By simply counting individual molecules in STM images after defined heating steps, the kinetic parameters and the activation energy of a complex surface reaction can be determined quantitatively. This procedure was demonstrated for the metalation of 2H-tetraphenylporphyrin (2HTPP) with substrate atoms on a Cu(111) surface.