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Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Assessing Two-dimensional Crystallization Trials of Small Membrane Proteins for Structural Biology Studies by Electron Crystallography
Published on: October 29, 2010
Stereochemistry of 2D molecular crystallization
1Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials, Science and Technology, Laboratory for Nanoscale Materials Science, Überlandstrasse 125, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Department of Chemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland. karl-heinz.ernst@empa.ch.
Abstract:
Different stereochemical aspects of molecular recognition in two-dimensional crystallization on metal surfaces are discussed. Scanning tunneling microscopy, a powerful tool with submolecular resolution capabilities, provides detailed insight into the implications of molecular geometry for the two-dimensional crystal lattice. The examples presented here include a homo- to heterochiral phase transition, tiling with pentagonal molecules, chiral restructuring of a metal surface and diastereomeric recognition between enantiomers of different molecular species via polar forces as well as van der Waals interactions.
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