A first-principles study of (R)- and (S)-PPA Molecules on Cu(111)

The adsorption of (R)- and (S)-2-phenylpropionamide (PPA, C(9)H(11)ON) molecules on a Cu(111) surface has been investigated using the density functional method with supercell models. The adsorption orientations of both (R)- and (S)-PPA molecules on the surface are the same: the phenyl rings are approximately parallel to the Cu(111) surface and positioned in the hollow sites, the amino and methyl groups occupy two-bridge sites, and the carbonyl occupies the top site. After the adsorption, the bond lengths in the two enantiomers are almost unchanged, but the changes for two dihedral angles show differences, especially for (R)-PPA molecule. The first angles between the (N,C9,C7) plane and the (C9,C7,C6) plane are 19.4 and 0.7 degrees for (R)- and (S)-PPA molecules, respectively, and the second angles between the (C8,C7,C6) plane and the (C7,C6,C5) plane are 74.8 and 0.4 degrees for (R)- and (S)-PPA molecules, respectively. The adsorption energies of (R)- and (S)-PPA molecules are calculated to be -34 and -26 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The simulated scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of (R)- and (S)-PPA molecules on the Cu(111) surface display different features and are coincident with the experimental ones. The interaction between the adsorption molecule and the metal surface is found to be responsible for the discrimination of (R)- and (S)-PPA molecules on the surface.