A Molecule with Half-Möbius Topology

Stereoisomers of C13Cl2 exhibiting helical orbitals around a ring of carbon atoms were synthesized by atom manipulation. We resolved chiral geometries of the closed-shell singlet states by atomic force microscopy and mapped helical orbital densities by scanning tunnelling microscopy. The π-orbital basis of the singlets twists by 90° in one circulation, which is consistent with a half-Möbius topology. In such a topology, the π-orbital basis is periodic with respect to four circumnavigations, corresponding to a quasiparticle on a ring with this boundary condition, implying a Berry phase of π/2. We demonstrate reversible switching of the topology, between the two singlets of oppositely threaded half-Möbius topology, and the planar, topologically trivial, triplet isomer.