Chirality at two-dimensional surfaces: A perspective from small molecule alcohol assembly on Au(111)

TL;DR

This study investigates how small alcohol molecules assemble on Au(111) surfaces, revealing the influence of chain length and intrinsic chirality on the formation of chiral 2D structures through combined experimental and theoretical approaches.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive framework for understanding alcohol adsorption, self-assembly, and chirality on metal surfaces, highlighting the effects of molecular structure and intrinsic chirality.

Findings

Longer alcohol chains form zigzag H-bonded chains.

Adsorbed alcohols become chiral via dative bonding to the surface.

Intrinsic chirality alters assembly, forming square chiral pockets.

Abstract

The delicate balance between H-bonding and van der Waals interactions determine the stability,structure and chirality of many molecular and supramolecular aggregates weakly adsorbed on solid surfaces.Yet the inherent complexity of these systems makes their experimental study at the molecular level very challenging.Small alcohols adsorbed on metal surfaces have become a useful model system to gain fundamental insight into the interplay of such molecule-surface and molecule-molecule interactions.Here, through a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory,we compare and contrast the adsorption and self-assembly of a range of small alcohols from methanol to butanol on Au(111).We find that that longer chained alcohols prefer to form zigzag chains held together by extended H-bonded networks between adjacent molecules.When alcohols bind to a metal surface datively via one of the two lone electron pairs of the oxygen atom they become chiral.Therefore,the chain structures are formed by a H-bonded network between adjacent molecules with alternating adsorbed chirality.These chain structures accommodate longer alkyl tails through larger unit cells, while the position of the hydroxyl group within the alcohol molecule can produce denser unit cells that maximize intermolecular interactions.Interestingly,when intrinsic chirality is introduced into the molecule as in the case of 2-butanol the assembly changes completely and square packing structures with chiral pockets are observed. This is rationalized by the fact that the intrinsic chirality of the molecule directs the chirality of the adsorbed hydroxyl group meaning that heterochiral chain structures cannot form.Overall this study provides a general framework for understanding the effect of simple alcohol molecular adstructures on H-bonded aggregates and paves the way for rationalizing 2D chiral supramolecular assembly.