Successive chiral transfer from molecular to mesoscopic scale in a controlled 2D hierarchical nanostructure on Ag(111)

Abstract

The understanding of the transferring of chiral information across wide dimensions is vital for both fundamental chemistry and biological processes. In this article, we successfully synthesized large-scale hierarchical structures on Ag(111). The order of the hierarchical structure can be precisely modulated by adjusting the stoichiometric ratio of components, which overcomes the long-term remaining challenge. Scanning tunneling microscopy observations reveal that the ordered networks exhibit intrinsic chirality. More importantly, we observed the successive transfer of the chiral information from molecular to supramolecular and eventually to mesoscopic scale in real space at single-molecular resolution. This study not only presents a strategy for the controlled synthesis of two-dimensional chiral hierarchical superstructures but also offers fundamental insights into the mechanism of successive chiral transfer at different length scales.