Formation of 2-D Chiral Monolayers from Chiral Mesogens Studied with Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Abstract

Monolayer structures of a chiral mesogen, (R)- or (S)-[4′-(1-methylheptyloxy)-3′-nitrobipheny1-4yl] 4-(trans-5-decenyloxy) benzoate, adsorbed on graphite were investigated with molecular dynamics simulations to clarify the mechanism of chiral supermolecular structure formation. We proposed a mechanism model that is based on the coupling between up-down symmetry breaking and the molecular tilt direction symmetry breaking of the monolayer.

Key Words:

• chirality
• monolayer
• symmetry breaking
• molecular simulation