Naturally chiral surfaces

Chiral surfaces are of growing importance as a result of their potential for use in enantioselective chemical processes. By far, the most widely used and commonly studied chiral surfaces are those prepared by templating of an achiral surface with chiral organic ligands. It is possible, however, to prepare naturally chiral surfaces by a number of means. This paper describes the various types of chiral surfaces. In addition, data are presented to suggest that naturally chiral surfaces of metals can be prepared by a process of imprinting in which chiral adsorbates induce reconstructions that create chiral kinks on metal surfaces.