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The 2D Ising model is well-formulated to address problems in adsorption thermodynamics. It is particularly well-suited to describing the adsorption isotherms predicting the surface enantiomeric excess, ees, observed during competitive co-adsorption of enantiomers onto achiral surfaces. Herein, we make the direct one-to-one correspondence between the 2D Ising model Hamiltonian and the Hamiltonian used to describe competitive enantiomer adsorption on achiral surfaces. We then demonstrate that adsorption from racemic mixtures of enantiomers and adsorption of prochiral molecules are directly analogous to the Ising model with no applied magnetic field, i.e., the enantiomeric excess on chiral surfaces can be predicted using Onsager’s solution to the 2D Ising model. The implication is that enantiomeric purity on the surface can be achieved during equilibrium exposure of prochiral compounds or racemic mixtures of enantiomers to achiral surfaces. 

A fundamental understanding of the enantiospecific interactions between chiral adsorbates and understanding of their interactions with chiral surfaces is key to unlocking the origins of enantiospecific surface chemistry. Herein, the adsorption and decomposition of the amino acid proline (Pro) have been studied on the achiral Cu(110) and Cu(111) surfaces and on the chiral Cu(643)^R&Ssurfaces. Isotopically labelled 1‐¹³C‐l‐Pro has been used to probe the Pro decomposition mechanism and to allow mass spectrometric discrimination ofd‐Pro and 1‐¹³C‐l‐Pro when adsorbed as mixtures. On the Cu(111) surface, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that Pro adsorbs as an anionic species in the monolayer. On the chiral Cu(643)^R&Ssurface, adsorbed Pro enantiomers decompose with non‐enantiospecific kinetics. However, the decomposition kinetics were found to be different on the terraces versus the kinked steps. Exposure of the chiral Cu(643)^R&Ssurfaces to a racemic gas phase mixture ofd‐Pro and 1‐¹³C‐l‐Pro resulted in the adsorption of a racemic mixture; i.e., adsorption is not enantiospecific. However, exposure to non‐racemic mixtures ofd‐Pro and 1‐¹³C‐l‐Pro resulted in amplification of enantiomeric excess on the surface, indicative of homochiral aggregation of adsorbed Pro. During co‐adsorption, this amplification is observed even at very low coverages, quite distinct from the behavior of other amino acids, which begin to exhibit homochiral aggregation only after reaching monolayer coverages. The equilibrium adsorption ofd‐Pro and 1‐¹³C‐l‐Pro mixtures on achiral Cu(110) did not display any aggregation, consistent with prior scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations ofdl‐Pro/Cu(110). This demonstrates convergence between findings from equilibrium adsorption methods and STM experiments and corroborates formation of a 2D random solid solution.