Division of Frontier Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.
Nat Chem. 2011 Aug 14;3(9):714-9. doi: 10.1038/nchem.1111.
Homochirality is essential to many biological systems, and plays a pivotal role in various technological applications. The generation of homochirality and an understanding of its mechanism from the single-molecule to supramolecular level have received much attention. Two-dimensional chirality is a subject of intense interest due to the unique possibilities and consequences of confining molecular self-assembly to surfaces or interfaces. Here, we report the perfect generation of two-dimensional homochirality of porous molecular networks at the liquid-solid interface in two different ways: (i) by self-assembly of homochiral building blocks and (ii) by self-assembly of achiral building blocks in the presence of a chiral modifier via a hierarchical structural recognition process, as revealed by scanning tunnelling microscopy. The present results provide important impetus for the development of two-dimensional crystal engineering and may afford opportunities for the utilization of chiral nanowells in chiral recognition processes, as nanoreactors and as data storage systems.
手性是许多生物系统所必需的，并且在各种技术应用中起着关键作用。从单分子到超分子水平上的手性产生及其机制的研究受到了广泛关注。二维手性是一个非常感兴趣的课题，因为将分子自组装限制在表面或界面上会产生独特的可能性和后果。在这里，我们通过扫描隧道显微镜报道了两种不同方法在液-固界面上完美生成多孔分子网络的二维手性：（i）通过手性构筑块的自组装，以及（ii）通过手性调节剂存在下的非手性构筑块的自组装，通过分级结构识别过程实现。这些结果为二维晶体工程的发展提供了重要动力，并可能为手性纳米井在手性识别过程中作为纳米反应器和数据存储系统的应用提供机会。
