Coexistence of homochiral and heterochiral adenine domains at the liquid/solid interface.
In this work, the self-assembly of the DNA base molecule adenine (A) is imaged with high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at the liquid (1-octanol)/solid (HOPG) interface at room temperature. Rather surprisingly, the STM results reveal, for the first time, the spontaneous formation of two coexisting distinct (homo- and heterochiral) domains of adenine, which are formed at the liquid/solid interface without changing any experimental conditions. Ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations support our STM findings and suggest the existence of various A networks of nearly similar stability that all are constructed from the most stable A dimer.
Mamdouh
Wael
W
Dong
Mingdong
M
Kelly
Ross E A
RE
Kantorovich
Lev N
LN
Besenbacher
Flemming
F
D020003:1-Octanol / Q000737:chemistry; D000225:Adenine / Q000737:chemistry*; D000327:Adsorption; D019281:Dimerization; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012996:Solutions; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013501:Surface-Active Agents
D012996:Solutions; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D006108:Graphite; D000225:Adenine; D020003:1-Octanol