Collaborative Research: The Structure and Chemistry of Naturally Chiral Metal Surfaces

这一合作研究项目结合了塔夫茨大学查尔斯·赛克斯实验室进行的实验研究、卡内基梅隆大学安德鲁·盖尔曼实验室的实验工作，以及同样在卡内基梅隆大学的大卫·肖尔及其同事的理论研究。在分析和表面化学计划的支持下，这个合作小组正在研究自然手性金属表面的结构和反应性。以铜单晶为衬底，研究了手性和非手性小分子在这些表面上的吸附和反应。扫描隧道显微镜(STM)、振动STM、Xe吸附光电子能谱、热脱附谱和密度泛函计算是研究这些反应的工具。对手性表面结构和反应性的基本了解有助于开发对映体选择性催化和分离过程，在制药工业中具有相当大的价值。塔夫茨大学和卡内基梅隆大学的表面科学实验学家和理论家合作解决了误切割铜表面的手性反应问题。通过切割表面暴露手性扭结位置，可以考察结构对手性分子吸附和反应的详细影响。对这一问题进行了一系列的实验和理论探索，目的是为对映体选择性反应和分离过程的设计提供基础性的认识。

This collaborative research project combines experimental studies carried out in the laboratory of Charles Sykes at Tufts University, experimental work from the laboratory of Andrew Gellman at Carnegie Mellon, and theoretical studies by David Scholl and coworkers, also at Carnegie Mellon. With the support of the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, this collaborative team is investigating the structure and reactivity of naturally chiral metal surfaces. Copper single crystals cut to expose chiral kink sites are the substrates being examined, and the adsorption and reaction of chiral and achiral small molecules on these surfaces are studied. A combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), vibrational STM, photoemission of adsorbed Xe, thermal desorption spectroscopy, and density functional calculations are the tools used to examine these reactions. A fundamental understanding of structure and reactivity of chiral surfaces helps to develop enantioselective catalytic and separation processes, of considerable value in the pharmaceutical industry. A collaboration between surface science experimentalists and theoreticians at Tufts University and Carnegie Mellon University addresses the question of chiral reactivity of miscut copper surfaces. By cutting the surfaces to expose chiral kink sites, the detailed effects of structure on adsorption and reaction of chiral molecules can be examined. A suite of experimental and theoretical probes are brought to bear on this question, with the goal of providing fundamental understanding for the design of enantioselective reaction and separation processes.