Abstract
The ordering of 4-[trans-2-(pyrid-4-yl-vinyl)] benzoic acid, a two-dimensional chiral species, was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy at noble metal surfaces. Homochiral molecules self-assemble in supramolecular chiral hydrogen-bonded twin chains, which order in nanogratings where the supramolecular chirality is strictly correlated over the entire domains without intimate molecular contact. Model simulations indicate that the underlying mesoscopic chiral resolution is associated with twin chains acting as chiroselective templates for transient molecular attachment, which process mediates the gratings' evolution.
- Received 18 December 2000
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.096101
©2001 American Physical Society