Dynamic control over supramolecular handedness by selecting chiral induction pathways at the solution-solid interface

A dominant theme within the research on two-dimensional chirality is the sergeant–soldiers principle, wherein a small fraction of chiral molecules (sergeants) is used to skew the handedness of achiral molecules (soldiers) to generate a homochiral surface. Here, we have combined the sergeant–soldiers principle with temperature-dependent molecular selfassembly to unravel a peculiar chiral amplification mechanism at the solution–solid interface in which, depending on the concentration of a sergeant–soldiers solution, the majority handedness of the system can either be amplified or entirely reversed after an annealing step, furnishing a homochiral surface. Two discrete pathways that affect different stages of two-dimensional crystal growth are invoked for rationalizing this phenomenon and we present a set of experiments where the access to each pathway can be precisely controlled. These results demonstrate that a detailed understanding of subtle intermolecular and interfacial interactions can be used to induce drastic changes in the handedness of a supramolecular network.

Publication year:2016

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BOF-publication weight:10

CSS-citation score:2

Authors:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Open