Stereospecific Epitaxial Growth of Bilayered Porous Molecular Networks

Stereocontrolled multilayer growth of supramolecular porous networks at the interface between graphite and a solution was investigated. For this study, we designed a chiral dehydrobenzo[12]­annulene (DBA) building block bearing alkoxy chains substituted at the 2 position with hydroxy groups, which enable van der Waals stabilization in a layer and potential hydrogen-bonding interactions between the layers. Bias voltage-dependent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments revealed the diastereospecificity of the bilayer with respect to both the intrinsic chirality of the building blocks and the supramolecular chirality of the self-assembled networks. Top and bottom layers within the same crystalline domain were composed of the same enantiomers but displayed opposite supramolecular chiralities.