TY - JOUR
T1 - Zwitterionic self-assembly of L-methionine nanogratings on the Ag(111) surface
AU - Schiffrin, Agustin
AU - Riemann, Andreas
AU - Auwärter, Willi
AU - Pennec, Yan
AU - Weber-Bargioni, Alex
AU - Cvetko, Dean
AU - Cossaro, Albano
AU - Morgante, Alberto
AU - Barth, Johannes V.
PY - 2007/3/27
Y1 - 2007/3/27
N2 - The engineering of complex architectures from functional molecules on surfaces provides new pathways to control matter at the nanoscale. In this article, we present a combined study addressing the self-assembly of the amino acid L-methionine on Ag(111). Scanning tunneling microscopy data reveal spontaneous ordering in extended molecular chains oriented along high-symmetry substrate directions. At intermediate coverages, regular biomolecular gratings evolve whose periodicity can be tuned at the nanometer scale by varying the methionine surface concentration. Their characteristics and stability were confirmed by helium atomic scattering. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy data reveal that the L-methionine chaining is mediated by zwitterionic coupling, accounting for both lateral links and molecular dimerization. This methionine molecular recognition scheme is reminiscent of sheet structures in amino acid crystals and was corroborated by molecular mechanics calculations. Our findings suggest that zwitterionic assembly of amino acids represents a general construction motif to achieve biomolecular nanoarchitectures on surfaces.
AB - The engineering of complex architectures from functional molecules on surfaces provides new pathways to control matter at the nanoscale. In this article, we present a combined study addressing the self-assembly of the amino acid L-methionine on Ag(111). Scanning tunneling microscopy data reveal spontaneous ordering in extended molecular chains oriented along high-symmetry substrate directions. At intermediate coverages, regular biomolecular gratings evolve whose periodicity can be tuned at the nanometer scale by varying the methionine surface concentration. Their characteristics and stability were confirmed by helium atomic scattering. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy data reveal that the L-methionine chaining is mediated by zwitterionic coupling, accounting for both lateral links and molecular dimerization. This methionine molecular recognition scheme is reminiscent of sheet structures in amino acid crystals and was corroborated by molecular mechanics calculations. Our findings suggest that zwitterionic assembly of amino acids represents a general construction motif to achieve biomolecular nanoarchitectures on surfaces.
KW - Nanochemistry
KW - Scanning tunneling microscopy
KW - Supramolecular engineering
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - X-ray photoemission spectroscopy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34248331323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0607867104
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0607867104
M3 - Article
C2 - 17372212
AN - SCOPUS:34248331323
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 104
SP - 5279
EP - 5284
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 13
ER -