1. Chiral Recognition of PVBA on fcc(111) Surfaces in Electrochemical Solutions
Byung I. Kim, Department of Physics, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
The Project aims to enhance the basic understanding of the fundamental mechanism of organic chiral recognition on metal surfaces in electrochemical environments. An asymmetric planar molecule, 4-trans-2-(pyrid-4-yl-vynyl) benzoic acid (PVBA), showed chiral recognition on Ag(111) but not on Pd(111) in the previous ultra high vacuum (UHV) based studies.  
Pd(111)
Ag(111)
Currently, we are investigating the influence of solvent and thermal energy on the chiral recognition of PVBA on Pd(111) and Ag(111) using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM). The EC-STM technique has been successfully developed during the first year of the ACS-PRF grant funding .