Driving Forces Underlying the Formation of Chiral Domains of Fluorinated Diacids on Graphite

• Published in: Langmuir Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 1412 - 1416
• Main Authors: Patole, S. N, Baddeley, C. J, Schüler, M, O’Hagan, D, Richardson, N. V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 03-02-2009
• Subjects: Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Interfaces: Adsorption, Reactions, Films, Forces; Surface physical chemistry; Intermolecular interaction; Substrate; Self assembly; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Racemic; Hydrocarbon; Carboxylic acid; Force; Chirality; Graphite; Fluorine compound
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/la802170f

The role of intermolecular interactions, molecule−substrate interactions, and molecular chirality in the construction of 2-D surface architectures is the subject of much current interest. A racemic mixture of long chain hydrocarbons was synthesized with terminal carboxylic acid functionalities at each end and two amide linkages in the central region of the molecule on either side of two F-containing chiral centers. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), we have examined how the functionality of these molecules influences their self-assembly on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface. The key factors determining the nature of ordered domains have been identified.