Ordering of dipeptide chains on Cu surfaces through 2D cocrystallization

We report on the induced ordering of dispersed chiral diphenylalanine (Phe-Phe) chains grown on the anisotropic Cu(110) and isotropic Cu(100) surfaces. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) data reveal that 2D extended hybrid molecular motifs can be fabricated by utilizing terephthalic acid (TPA) molecules as linkers. These act as a molecular "glue" to bridge the isolated Phe-Phe chains without altering the global chirality of the final structures. Our results demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of this 2D analogue of the 3D cocrystallization approach.