Chiral recognition of organic molecules by atomic kinks on surfaces

Two distinct non-mirror-symmetric conformations of D- and L-cysteine were found after adsorption on Au(17 11 9)(S). This demonstrates chiral heterorecognition, i.e., enantioselectivity of S kinks on vicinal Au(111). The structures as determined by angle scanned x-ray photoelectron diffraction agree well with those from density functional theory calculations. The calculations predict adsorption energies of approximate to 2 eV where D-cysteine binds 140 meV stronger than L-cysteine. The classical three point contact model for molecular recognition fails to explain these findings.