Chiral molecular patterns of self-assembled ion pairs composed of (R,S), (S)-16-methyloctadecanoic acid and 4,4′-bipyridineElectronic supplementary information (ESI) is available: colour versions of Figs. 1–4. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b0/b005112h/

Abstract

Self-assembled monolayers of stearic acid, (R,S) and (S)-16-methyloctadecanoic acid ion-paired with 4,4′-bipyridine have been observed on a solution–graphite interface by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the observed macro-scale molecular patterns have been interpreted in terms of absolute chirality of the constituent molecule.