Towards the formation and stabilization of molecule-based chiral interfaces across different platforms

The design and fabrication of chiral surfaces has received considerable attention due to their importance as substrates for chiral separations and enantioselective heterogeneous catalysis. Among molecule-based approaches, one of the simpler and rather tractable ways to construct such chiral surfaces is via supramolecular self-assembly of organic building blocks, i.e. the formation of physisorbed self-assembled molecular networks (SAMNs). These single layered films, provided they are formed on a conductive substrate, are then amenable to molecular level characterization using high-resolution microscopy techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In fact, chirality is easily achieved upon surface-confinement, due to the exclusion of certain symmetry elements upon planar confinement. An important shortcoming of physisorbed SAMNs is their poor stability. Given that they are sustained by relatively weak intermolecular and interfacial interactions, the structural integrity of physisorbed SAMNs is compromised at elevated temperatures or even when exposed to different solvents. Thus, to foresee any sort of practical application of organic chiral surfaces, one must stabilize the chiral molecular networks by strengthening the intermolecular and/or interfacial interactions. This project aims to develop new concepts for the on-surface formation and stabilization of large area, chiral porous and non-porous networks and their molecular level characterization.