Direct determination of the chirality of organic molecules by scanning tunneling microscopy

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been used to study the chiral molecules (R)/(S)-2-bromohexadecanoic acid at the liquid/solid interface. When adsorbed onto the basal plane of graphite, these molecules segregate on the surface into domains of pure R or S enantiomers. The atomic resolution obtained in the STM images of these species allows a direct assignment of the chirality of individual molecules.