On the theory of tripod amphiphiles, chiral discrimination and phase transitions in Langmuir monolayers

Chiral discrimination is investigated theoretically for chiral molecules that form an insoluble Langmuir monolayer on the water/air interface. For a specific type of model molecules-tripod amphiphile-the chiral discrimination is calculated for various types of intermolecular interactions: van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, dipoles, charges, etc. In particular, we find that van der Waals interactions prefer chiral segregation whereas electrostatic interactions prefer heterochiral compounds. Monolayer phase diagrams are calculated for both cases.