title: Fabrication of chiral Langmuir-Schaefer films of achiral amphiphilic Schiff base derivatives through an interfacial organization.
abstract: Supramolecular chirality in the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) films of two achiral amphiphilic Schiff bases, 2-(2'-benzimidazolyliminomethyl)-4-octadecyloxyphenol (BSC18) and 2-(2'-benzthiazolyliminomethyl)-4-octadecyloxyphenol (TSC18), was investigated. Both of these amphiphiles could form LS films from the water surface or coordinate with Ag(I) in the subphase to form Ag(I)-coordinated LS films. Although both of these amphiphiles were achiral, TSC18 formed a chiral LS film from the water surface, while BSC18 formed a chiral Ag(I)-coordinated LS film from the aqueous AgNO3 subphase. The supramolecular chirality in these LS films was suggested to be due to a cooperative stereoregular pi-pi stacking of the functional groups together with the long alkyl chains in a helical sense. The relationship between the chirality of the LS films and the molecular structures of TSC18 and BSC18 as well as their H-bond or coordination behaviors was discussed. The Schiff base films showed a reversible color change upon exposure to HCl and NH3 gas alternatively; however, the supramolecular chirality was irreversible during these processes.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, and Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Peizhi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu