title: Chiral discrimination of a gemini-type surfactant with rigid spacer at the air-water interface.
abstract: Spontaneous separation of chiral phases was observed in the monolayers of a racemate of gemini-type twin-tailed, twin-chiral amphiphiles, (2R,3R)-(+)-bis(decyloxy)succinic acid and (2S,3S)-(-)-bis(decyloxy)succinic acid. The pressure-area isotherms of the interfacial monolayers formed at the liquid-air interface, and the 2D lattice structures studied through surface probe measurements revealed that the racemate exhibits a homochiral discrimination of the enantiomers in two dimensions. An enantiomeric excess (e,e) of 20% was sufficient to break the chiral symmetry at the air-water interface for a homochiral interaction. Langmuir monolayers on ZnCl2 and CaCl2 subphases manifested chiral discrimination with Zn2+ evidencing homochiral interaction with a chelate-type complex, whereas Ca2+ resulted in a heterochiral interaction forming an ionic-type complex. For the chiral asymmetric units, oblique and rectangular unit cells of the racemic monolayer had exclusive requirements of homo- and heterochiral recognitions for Zn2+ and Ca2+ ions, respectively. Monolayers transferred from the condensed phase at 25 mN/m onto hydrophilic Si(100) and quartz substrates revealed the formation of bilayers through transfer-induced monolayer buckling. The emergence of homochiral discrimination was explained using the effective-pair-potential (EPP) approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India.
authors.forename: B Vijai
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: Archita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patnaik
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008958:Models, Molecular; D044367:Phase Transition; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013499:Surface Properties; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water