Matthew Forster

A one-dimensional ice structure built from pentagons

Heterogeneous ice nucleation has a key role in fields as diverse as atmospheric chemistry and biology. Ice nucleation on metal surfaces affords an opportunity to watch this process unfold at the molecular scale on a well-defined, planar interface. A common feature of structural models for such films is that they are built from hexagonal arrangements of molecules. Here we show, through a combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and density-functional theory, that about 1-nm-wide ice chains that nucleate on Cu(110) are not built from hexagons, but instead are built from a face-sharing arrangement of water pentagons. The pentagon structure is favoured over others because it maximizes the water-metal bonding while maintaining a strong hydrogen-bonding network. It reveals an unanticipated structural adaptability of water-ice films, demonstrating that the presence of the substrate can be sufficient to favour non-hexagonal structural units.

Probing Conformers and Adsorption Footprints at the Single-Molecule Level in a Highly Organized Amino Acid Assembly of (S)-Proline on Cu(110)

Establishing the nanoscale details of organized amino acid assemblies at surfaces is a major challenge in the field of organic-inorganic interfaces. Here, we show that the dense (4 x 2) overlayer of the amino acid, (S)-proline on a Cu(110) surface can be explored at the single-molecule level by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), and periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The combination of experiment and theory, allied with the unique structural rigidity of proline, enables the individual conformers and adsorption footprints adopted within the organized assembly to be determined. Periodic DFT calculations find two energetically favorable molecular conformations, projecting mirror-image chiral adsorption footprints at the surface. These two forms can be experimentally distinguished since the positioning of the amino group within the pyrrolidine ring leads each chiral footprint and associated conformer to adopt very different ring orientations, producing distinct contrasts in the STM images. DFT modeling shows that the two conformers can generate eight possible (4 x 2) overlayers with a variety of adsorption footprint arrangements. STM images simulated for each structural model enables a direct comparison to be made with the experiment and narrows the (4 x 2) overlayer to one specific structural model in which the juxtaposition of molecules leads to the formation of one-dimensional hydrogen bonded prolate chains directed along the [110] direction.

Recognition and ordering at surfaces: the importance of handedness and footedness.

The expression of chirality at surfaces, arising from the adsorption of chiral molecules, is usually discussed in terms of the molecular handedness. However, the adsorption process often leads to a new manifestation of chirality in the form of the adsorption footprint. Therefore, in order to fully define the chirality of the interface we propose that both the handedness and the footedness of the system must be considered. To illustrate this point, we describe the ordering behavior of the molecules tartaric acid, succinic acid, proline, and 3-pyrroline-2-carboxylic (PCA) on a Cu(110) surface using deconvolution maps separating the arrangement of enantiomers, conformers, adsorption footprints and rotamers within an organized assembly. Tartaric and succinic acid mimic the behavior of a conventional 3D conglomerate and racemic compound in terms of both the handedness and footedness, respectively. However, racemic PCA and proline, while expressing a random solid solution of enantiomers and conformers, both display unexpected degrees of order when adsorbate footprint and orientation are considered.

Water-hydroxyl phases on an open metal surface: breaking the ice rules

Hydroxyl is a key reaction intermediate in many surface catalyzed redox reactions, yet establishing the phase diagram for water/hydroxyl adsorption on metal surfaces remains a considerable challenge for interfacial chemistry. While the structures formed on close packed metal surfaces have been discussed widely, the phase diagram on more reactive, open metal surfaces, is complex and the H-bonding structures are largely unknown. Based on scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory calculations, we report the phase diagram for water/hydroxyl on Cu(110), providing a complete molecular description of the complex hydrogen bonding structures formed. Three distinct phases are observed as the temperature is decreased and the water/hydroxyl ratio increased: pure OH dimers, extended 1H2O:1OH chains, aligned along the close-packed Cu rows, and finally a distorted 2D hexagonal c(2 × 2) 2H2O:1OH network. None of these phases obey the conventional ‘ice rules’, instead their structures can be understood based on weak H donation by hydroxyl, which favours H-bonding structures dominated by water donation to hydroxyl, and competition between hydroxyl adsorption sites. Hydroxyl binds in the Cu bridge site in the 1D chain structures, but is displaced to the atop site in the 2D network in order to accommodate water in its preferred atop binding geometry. The adsorption site and stability of hydroxyl can therefore be tuned simply by changing the surface temperature and water content, giving a new insight as to how the open metal template influences the water/hydroxyl structures formed and the activity of hydroxyl.

Simple rules and the emergence of complexity in surface chirality

Surface chirality arising from self-organized molecular monolayers may manifest both a handedness and footedness, leading to a dual level of chiral expression. Recent advances have determined both levels of chirality at the single-molecule level and, surprisingly, reveal a plethora of chiral orderings. There is yet no clear understanding of why such varied manifestations of interface chirality occur. Here, we show that the ordering of handedness and footedness of amino-acids within (n× 2) assemblies on Cu(110) may be understood on the basis of three simple generic rules from which a variety chiral expressions naturally arise. These rules also provide insights into how enantiomer assembly at surfaces may be tailored to produce required chiral organizations and segregations.