Sun Kai, Tao Min-Long, Tu Yu-Bing, Wang Jun-Zhong
School of Physical Science and Technology, MOE Key Laboratory on Luminescence and Real-Time Analysis, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Molecules. 2017 May 4;22(5):740. doi: 10.3390/molecules22050740.
Molecular rotors with an off-center axis and the chiral feature of achiral CuPc molecules on a semi-metallic Bi(111) surface have been investigated by means of a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at liquid nitrogen (LN₂) temperature. The rotation axis of each CuPc molecular rotor is located at the end of a phthalocyanine group. As molecular coverage increases, the CuPc molecules are self-assembled into various nanoclusters and finally into two-dimensional (2D) domains, in which each CuPc molecule exhibits an apparent chiral feature. Such chiral features of the CuPc molecules can be attributed to the combined effect of asymmetric charge transfer between the CuPc and Bi(111) substrate, and the intermolecular van der Waals interactions.
通过在液氮（LN₂）温度下的扫描隧道显微镜（STM），研究了半金属Bi(111)表面上具有偏心轴和非手性CuPc分子手性特征的分子转子。每个CuPc分子转子的旋转轴位于酞菁基团的末端。随着分子覆盖率的增加，CuPc分子自组装成各种纳米团簇，最终形成二维（2D）畴，其中每个CuPc分子都表现出明显的手性特征。CuPc分子的这种手性特征可归因于CuPc与Bi(111)衬底之间不对称电荷转移以及分子间范德华相互作用的综合影响。
