Chiral recognition of zinc phthalocyanine on Cu(100) surface

Abstract

The windmill-like chiral nature of individual ZnPc molecules adsorbed on Cu(100) surface at room temperature has been revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the origin of such chirality is attributed to asymmetrical charge transfer between the molecules and the copper surface. Such chiral enantiomers do recognize each other in molecular level and spontaneously form second-level chiral supramolecular structures with the same chirality during thermally driven movements. The interactions between the ZnPc molecules during such chiral recognition process have been discussed based on the analysis of the sub-molecule-resolution STM images.