Chirality recognition and separation of 4-ethynyltriphenylamine induced by chiral Kagomé network on Cu (1 1 1)

Abstract

Chirality Recognition and Separation induced by chiral molecular template with chiral cavities. • EPTA molecules tend to form achiral nanostructures on bare Cu (1 1 1). • ABA molecules form two Kagomé chiral structures with different symmetries. • Chiral recognition of EPTA molecules is realized by introducing Kagomé templates. Chirality recognition and separation on surfaces became a hot research topic in recent years for generation of homochiral nanostructures. Previously, chirality of the assembled nanostructures is determined by the molecule–molecule or molecule–substrate interaction which is uncontrolled to some extent and some organic molecules are prone to bind to its enantiomer to form racemic phase rather than separating into different homochiral ones. In this paper, 4-ethynyltriphenylamine (EPTA) molecules form achiral nanostructures on bare Cu (1 1 1). Interestingly, by introducing a chiral molecular template with chiral cavities, the chirality recognition and separation of EPTA molecules are realized, and finally chiral aggregations formed by EPTA molecules with the same chirality are achieved. This discovery provides a feasible approach for the construction of chiral nanomaterials, chirality recognition and separation.