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The occupied and empty densities of states of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) were investigated by photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectroscopies in the gas phase and in thin films deposited on a Au(111) surface. The comparison between the gas-phase results and density functional theory single-molecule simulations confirmed that the CoPc ground state is correctly described by the 2A1gelectronic configuration. Moreover, photon-energy-dependent valence photoemission spectra of both the gas phase and thin film confirmed the atomic character of the highest occupied molecular orbital as being derived from the organic ligand, with dominant contributions from the carbon atoms. Multiplet ligand-field theory was employed to simulate the Co L-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy results.

A combined X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and density functional theory (DFT) study has been performed to characterize the adsorbate interaction of lutetium biphthalocyanine (LuPc2) molecules on the Si(100)-2 × 1 surface. Large molecule–substrate adsorption energies are computed and are found to compete with the molecule–molecule interactions of the double decker molecules. A particularly good matching between STM images and computed ones confirms the deformation of the molecule upon the absorption process. The comparison between DFT calculations and XP spectra reveals that the electronic distribution in the two plateaus of the biphthalocyanine are not affected in the same manner upon the adsorption onto the silicon surface. This finding can be of particular importance in the implementation of organic molecules in hybrid devices.