Adsorption, ionization, and migration of hydrogen chloride on ice films at temperatures between 100 and 140 K

Adsorption of hydrogen chloride (HCl) on water ice films is studied in the temperature range of 100-140 K by using Cs+ reactive ion scattering (Cs+ RIS), low energy sputtering (LES), and temperature-programmed-desorption mass spectrometry (TPDMS). At 100 K, HCl on ice partially dissociates to hydronium and chloride ions and the undissociated HCl exists in two distinct molecular states (alpha- and beta-states). Upon heating of the ice films, HCl molecules in the alpha-state desorb at 135-150 K, whereas those in the beta-state first become ionized and then desorb via recombinative reaction of ions at 170 K. An adsorption kinetics study reveals that HCl adsorption into the ionized state is slightly favored over adsorption into the molecular states at 100 K, leading to earlier saturation of the ionized state. Between the two molecular states, the beta-state is formed first, and the alpha-state appears only at high HCl coverage. At 140 K, ionic dissociation of HCl is completed. The resulting hydronium ion can migrate into the underlying sublayer to a depth <4 bilayers, suggesting that the migration is assisted by self-diffusion of water molecules near the surface. When HCl is covered by a water overlayer at 100 K, its ionization efficiency is enhanced, but a substantial portion of HCl remains undissociated as molecules or contact ion pairs. The observation suggests that three-dimensional surrounding by water molecules does not guarantee ionic dissociation of HCl. Complete ionization of HCl requires additional thermal energy to separate the hydronium and chloride ions.     

Spectroscopic probes of the quasi-liquid layer on ice

Raman spectra of the water OH-stretch region were acquired at air-ice and air-water interfaces at a glancing angle, which allowed observation of surface characteristics. The shapes of the OH-stretch bands indicate that the environment at the air-ice interface is different from that at the air-water interface and from that seen in bulk water. Water spectra measured at the surface of dodecane under low relative humidity indicate that this method is sensitive to fewer than 50 monolayers of water. Changes in the local environment of the surfacial water molecules may be induced by the presence of different solute species, giving rise to changes in the shape of the band. Dissolved sodium chloride disrupts hydrogen bonding in liquid water and has the same effect at the air-ice interface. However, when either HCl or HNO(3) is adsorbed from the gas phase onto an ice surface, the opposite effect is seen: Their presence appears to increase the extent of hydrogen bonding at the ice surface. At the same time, shifts in the laser-induced fluorescence spectra of acridine, a fluorescent pH-probe present at the air-ice interface, indicate that dissociation of acids occurs there. These observations suggest that the formation of hydronium ions at the air-ice interface enhances the hydrogen bonding of surfacial water molecules.     

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation and surface morphology change of water ice films dosed with hydrogen chloride

Time-of-flight (TOF) spectra of photofragment H atoms from the photodissociation of water ice films at 193 nm were measured for amorphous and polycrystalline water ice films with and without dosing of hydrogen chloride at 100-145 K. The TOF spectrum is sensitive to the surface morphology of the water ice film because the origin of the H atom is the photodissociation of dimerlike water molecules attached to the ice film surfaces. Adsorption of HCl on a polycrystalline ice film was found to induce formation of disorder regions on the ice film surface at 100-140 K, while the microstructure of the ice surface stayed of polycrystalline at 145 K with adsorption of HCl. The TOF spectra of photofragment Cl atoms from the 157 nm photodissociation of neutral HCl adsorbed on water ice films at 100-140 K were measured. These results suggest partial dissolution of HCl on the ice film surface at 100-140 K.     

Segregation of hydroxide ions to an ice surface

Hydroxide ions that are initially buried within an ice film segregate to the ice film surface at elevated temperatures. This process was observed by conducting experiments with an ice film constructed with a bottom H(2)O layer and an upper D(2)O layer, with an excess of hydroxide ions trapped at the H(2)O/D(2)O interface as they were generated by Na hydrolysis. The transport of hydroxide ions from the interfacial layer to the surface was examined as a function of time using a low energy sputtering method. The progress of the H/D exchange reaction in surface water molecules was also monitored with the Cs(+) reactive ion scattering technique. At 90 K, only a small portion of buried hydroxide ions moved to the surface in the form of OD(-) species. This was due to hydroxide transport via proton hopping through a D(2)O layer, 3 BL thick, in the surface region. At 135 K, at which point water self-diffusion is active in the ice film, the majority of the buried hydroxide ions segregated to the surface after ～1 h. Both OH(-) and OD(-) species were produced at the surface, at an OH(-)/OD(-) population ratio ≥1. Based on kinetic measurements for the transport of OH(-) and OD(-) species and the H/D exchange of surface water molecules, we concluded that the major transport channel for hydroxide ions in this regime is the migration of molecular hydroxide species. H/D exchange reactions also occur between surface hydroxide ions and water molecules. No evidence was observed for the occurrence of the hop-and-turn process at 135 K, although it is known as an important mechanism of proton transport in ice.     

Acid–Base Chemistry at the Ice Surface: Reverse Correlation Between Intrinsic Basicity and Proton‐Transfer Efficiency to Ammonia and Methyl Amines

Proton transfer from the hydronium ion to NH₃, CH₃NH₂, and (CH₃)₂NH is examined at the surface of ice films at 60 K. The reactants and products are quantitatively monitored by the techniques of Cs⁺ reactive‐ion scattering and low‐energy sputtering. The proton‐transfer reactions at the ice surface proceed only to a limited extent. The proton‐transfer efficiency exhibits the order NH₃>(CH₃)NH₂=(CH₃)₂NH, which opposes the basicity order of the amines in the gas phase or aqueous solution. Thermochemical analysis suggests that the energetics of the proton‐transfer reaction is greatly altered at the ice surface from that in liquid water due to limited hydration. Water molecules constrained at the ice surface amplify the methyl substitution effect on the hydration efficiency of the amines and reverse the order of their proton‐accepting abilities.     

Proton mobility in thin ice films: a revisit

We have examined proton transport through an ice film in the temperature range 73-140 K by initially adding hydronium ions into the interior of the film and then monitoring the build-up of hydronium ion population at the film surface. The result confirms that the proton exhibits limited mobility in the ice film at low temperature, but it becomes highly mobile at temperature above 130 K. Based on this result we suggest an explanation of the anomalous experimental observations in the literature for the proton mobility in ice films.     

The Surface of Ice Is Like Supercooled Liquid Water

The surface of ice has been reported to be disordered at temperatures well below the bulk melting point. However, the precise nature of this disorder has been a topic of intense debate. Herein, we study the molecular properties of the surface of ice as a function of temperatures using heterodyne‐detected sum‐frequency generation spectroscopy. We observe that, down to 245 K, the spectral response of the surface of ice contains a component that is indistinguishable from supercooled liquid water.     

Adsorption of HCl on the water ice surface studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy

The adsorption state of HCl at 20 and 90 K on crystalline water ice films deposited under ultrahigh vacuum at 150 K has been studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the O1s K-edge and Cl2p L-edge. We show that HCl dissociates at temperatures as low as 20 K, in agreement with the prediction of a spontaneous ionization of HCl on ice. Comparison between the rate of saturation of the "dangling" hydrogen bonds and the chlorine uptake indicates that hydrogen bonding of HCl with the surface native water "dangling" groups only accounts for a small part of the ionization events (20% at 90 K). A further mechanism drives the rest of the dissociation/solvation process. We suggest that the weakening of the ice surface hydrogen-bond network after the initial HCl adsorption phase facilitates the generation of new dissociation/solvation sites, which increases the uptake capacity of ice. These results also emphasize the necessity to take into account not only a single dissociation event but its catalyzing effect on the subsequent events when modeling the uptake of hydrogen-bonding molecules on the ice surface.     

Silica‐Grafted Tris(neopentyl)aluminum: A Monomeric Aluminum Solid Co‐catalyst for Efficient Nickel‐Catalyzed Ethene Dimerization

A silica‐supported monomeric alkylaluminum co‐catalyst was prepared via surface organometallic chemistry by contacting tris(neopentyl)aluminum and partially dehydroxylated silica. This system, fully characterized by solid‐state ²⁷Al NMR spectroscopy augmented by computational studies, efficiently activates (ⁿBu₃P)₂NiCl₂ towards dimerization of ethene, demonstrating comparable activity to previously reported dimeric diethylaluminum chloride supported on silica. Three types of aluminum surface species have been identified: monografted tetracoordinated Al species as well as two types of bisgrafted Al species—tetra‐ and pentacoordinated. Of them, only the monografted Al species is proposed to be able to activate the (ⁿBu₃P)₂NiCl₂ complex and generate the active cationic species.     

Interfacial structures of acidic and basic aqueous solutions

Phase-sensitive sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy was used to study water/vapor interfaces of HCl, HI, and NaOH solutions. The measured imaginary part of the surface spectral responses provided direct characterization of OH stretch vibrations and information about net polar orientations of water species contributing to different regions of the spectrum. We found clear evidence that hydronium ions prefer to emerge at interfaces. Their OH stretches contribute to the "ice-like" band in the spectrum. Their charges create a positive surface field that tends to reorient water molecules more loosely bonded to the topmost water layer with oxygen toward the interface, and thus enhances significantly the "liquid-like" band in the spectrum. Iodine ions in solution also like to appear at the interface and alter the positive surface field by forming a narrow double-charge layer with hydronium ions. In NaOH solution, the observed weak change of the "liquid-like" band and disappearance of the "ice-like" band in the spectrum indicates that OH(-) ions must also have excess at the interface. How they are incorporated in the interfacial water structure is, however, not clear.     

Influence of Hydronium Ions in Zeolites on Sorption

In the presence of sufficient concentrations of water, stable, hydrated hydronium ions are formed in the pores and at the surface of solid acids such as zeolites. For a medium‐pore zeolite, such as zeolite MFI, hydrated hydronium ions consist of eight water molecules and have an effective volume of 0.24 nm³. In their presence, larger organic molecules can only adsorb in the portions of the pore that are not occupied by hydronium ions. As a consequence, the available pore volume decreases proportionally to the concentration of the hydronium ions. The higher charge density (the increasing ionic strength) that accompanies an increasing concentration of hydronium ions leads to an increase in the activity coefficients of the adsorbed substrates, thus, weakening the interactions between the organic part of the molecules and the zeolite and favoring the interactions with polar groups. The quantitative understanding of these interactions makes it possible to link a collective property such as hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of zeolites to specific interactions on molecular level.     

Comparative FTIR spectroscopy of HX adsorbed on solid water: Ragout-jet water clusters vs ice nanocrystal arrays

In addition to revealing the stretch-mode bands of the smallest mixed clusters of HCl and HBr (HX) with water, the ragout-jet FTIR spectra of dense mixed water-acid supersonic jets include bands that result from the interaction of HX with larger water clusters. It is argued here that low jet temperatures prevent the water-cluster-bound HX molecules from becoming sufficiently solvated to induce ionic dissociation. The molecular nature of the HX can be deduced directly from the observed influence of changing from HCl to HBr and from replacing H2O with D2O. Furthermore, the band positions of HX are roughly coincidental with bands assigned to molecular HCl and HBr adsorbed on ice nanocrystal surfaces at temperatures below 100 K. It is also interesting that the HX band positions and widths approximate those of HX bound to the surface of amorphous ice films at <60 K. Though computational results suggest the adsorbed HX molecules observed in the jet expansions are weakly distorted by single coordination with surface dangling-oxygen atoms, on-the-fly trajectories indicate that the cluster skeletons undergo large-amplitude low-frequency vibrations. Local HX solvation, the extent of proton sharing, and the HX vibrational spectra undergo serious modulation on a picosecond time scale.     

Probing the interaction of hydrogen chloride with low-temperature water ice surfaces using thermal and electron-stimulated desorption

The interaction and autoionization of HCl on low-temperature (80-140 K) water ice surfaces has been studied using low-energy (5-250 eV) electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). There is a reduction of H(+) and H(2)(+) and a concomitant increase in H(+)(H(2)O)(n=1-7) ESD yields due to the presence of submonolayer quantities of HCl. These changes are consistent with HCl induced reduction of dangling bonds required for H(+) and H(2)(+) ESD and increased hole localization necessary for H(+)(H(2)O)(n=1-7) ESD. For low coverages, this can involve nonactivated autoionization of HCl, even at temperatures as low as 80 K; well below those typical of polar stratospheric cloud particles. The uptake and autoionization of HCl is supported by TPD studies which show that for HCl doses ≤0.5 ± 0.2 ML (ML = monolayer) at 110 K, desorption of HCl begins at 115 K and peaks at 180 K. The former is associated with adsorption of a small amount of molecular HCl and is strongly dependent on the annealing history of the ice. The latter peak at 180 K is commensurate with desorption of HCl via recombinative desorption of solvated separated ion pairs. The activation energy for second-order desorption of HCl initially in the ionized state is 43 ± 2 kJ/mol. This is close to the zero-order activation energy for ice desorption.     

Atomistic Simulations of Hydrated Sulfonated Polybenzophenone Block Copolymer Membranes

We present a classical molecular dynamics simulations study on the nanostructures of the sulfonated polybenzophenone (SPK) block copolymer membranes at 300 K and 353 K. The results of the radial distribution function (RDF) show that the interactions of the sulfonate groups of the membrane with the hydronium ions are more significant than those of water due to the strong electrostatic attraction over the hydrogen bonding. However, the effect of temperatures on the RDF profile seems insignificant. Furthermore, the spatial distribution function (SDF) portrays that the sulfonate groups of the hydrophilic components are preferential binding sites for hydronium ions against the hydrophobic counterpart of the SPK membrane. The mobility of the H₃O⁺ ions at 300 K and 353 K is two (or three) times lower than that of Nafion/Aciplex. However, the diffusion coefficients for water molecules closely agree with Nafion/Aciplex. This study suggests that water clusters are more localized around the sulfonate groups in the SPK membranes. Thus, the molecular modeling study of SPK block copolymer membranes is warranted to design better-performing membrane electrolytes.     

Heterogeneous Electrofreezing of Super‐Cooled Water on Surfaces of Pyroelectric Crystals is Triggered by Trigonal Planar Ions

Electrofreezing experiments of super‐cooled water (SCW) with different ions, performed directly on the charged hemihedral faces of pyroelectric LiTaO₃ and AgI crystals, in the presence and in the absence of pyroelectric charge are reported. It is demonstrated that bicarbonate (HCO₃^?) ions elevate the icing temperature near the positively charged faces. In contrast, the hydronium (H₃O⁺) slightly reduces the icing temperature. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the hydrated trigonal planar HCO₃^? ions self‐assemble with water molecules near the surface of the AgI crystal as clusters of slightly different configuration from those of the ice‐like hexagons. These clusters, however, have a tendency to serve as embryonic nuclei for ice crystallization. Consequently, we predicted and experimentally confirmed that the trigonal planar ions of NO₃^? and guanidinium (Gdm⁺), at appropriate concentrations, elevate the icing temperature near the positive and negative charged surfaces, respectively. On the other hand, the Cl^? and SO₄^2? ions of different configurations reduce the icing temperature.     

Some aspects of the chlorine evolution reaction at ruthenium dioxide anodes

Cyclic voltammograms for ruthenium dioxide-coated titanium electrodes in acid solutionwere unaffected, below 1.2 V, by the addition of large quantities of chloride ions. Chlorine discharge at such surfaces was assumed to involve participation of surface oxygen species such as O_ads, rather than specific adsorption of Cl^? ions, at the oxide surface. In contrast to the oxygen evolution reaction, the rate of chlorine evolution was independent of both the roughness factor and the oxide loading of these anodes, the discharge apparently occurring at the external surface of these microporous electrodes. In view of the reversibility of the chlorine/chloride electrode system, especially as compared with oxygen, the main factor influencing the rate of chlorine evolution was assumed to be transfer of chlorine gas away from the electrode surface. Deviations from simple Tafel behaviour were also attributed to mass transfer of the product. Cyclic voltammograms recorded at various temperatures indicated that reduction of the oxide layer at potentials below about 0.3 V was considerably enhanced by an increase in temperature.     

Mechanistic study of proton transfer and HD exchange in ice films at low temperatures (100-140 K)

We have examined the elementary molecular processes responsible for proton transfer and HD exchange in thin ice films for the temperature range of 100-140 K. The ice films are made to have a structure of a bottom D(2)O layer and an upper H(2)O layer, with excess protons generated from HCl ionization trapped at the D(2)OH(2)O interface. The transport behavior of excess protons from the interfacial layer to the ice film surface and the progress of the HD exchange reaction in water molecules are examined with the techniques of low energy sputtering and Cs(+) reactive ion scattering. Three major processes are identified: the proton hopping relay, the hop-and-turn process, and molecular diffusion. The proton hopping relay can occur even at low temperatures (<120 K), and it transports a specific portion of embedded protons to the surface. The hop-and-turn mechanism, which involves the coupling of proton hopping and molecule reorientation, increases the proton transfer rate and causes the HD exchange of water molecules. The hop-and-turn mechanism is activated at temperatures above 125 K in the surface region. Diffusional mixing of H(2)O and D(2)O molecules additionally contributes to the HD exchange reaction at temperatures above 130 K. The hop-and-turn and molecular diffusion processes are activated at higher temperatures in the deeper region of ice films. The relative speeds of these processes are in the following order: hopping relay>hop and turn>molecule diffusion.     

Theoretical studies on the methylsulfenyl chloride addition to propene

Thiiranium heterocycles play an important role in biocatalytic processes of cells. Usually formation of thiiranium ions is known to proceed by the electrophilic additions of sulfenylhalides to substituted olefins, subsequently undergoing the regioselective and stereoselective nucleophilic attack of the halide atom on either C‐1 or C‐2 carbon atom of the thiiranium intermediate to gave two isomeric adducts. The detailed sequence of the reaction mechanism, the nature of intermediates, and transition states that occur in this electrophilic addition reaction are not well understood. In our work, this reaction has been modeled using Ab initio methods at the MP2/6‐31+G(d,f) level of theory to look into the mechanism of the reaction and to explain how the regioselectivity of the reaction is controlled. We focused on the electrophilic addition reaction of the methylsulfenyl chloride to propene. Our calculations show that the reaction is predicted to proceed via two distinct directions. The first direction proceeds when the starting reacting molecules formed the cis‐methyl‐oriented thiiranium intermediate, and the second direction is when the starting reactants resulted in the trans‐methyl‐oriented thiiranium intermediate. The calculated reaction potential energy surface profile suggests that the minimum energy pathway via the first direction is energetically more preferred than that via trans one. Moreover, calculation of the intrinsic reaction coordinate on the minimum energy pathway revealed the stepwise mechanism for the addition reaction. Thus the energetically preferred first reaction direction consists of the addition of methylsulfenyl chloride to the double bond of propene undergoing synchronous concerted transition state leading to the thiiranium intermediate formation (the rate‐limiting step in the electrophilic addition reaction); regioselective thiiranium intermediate ring‐opening process by the chloride anion attack on the C‐2 carbon of the thiiranium intermediate forming 2‐chloro adduct of kinetically controlled addition reaction; the isomerization reaction of 2‐chloro adduct to more energetically favorable thermodynamically stable 1‐chloro product. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 21:1–13, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20571     

Molecular dynamics analysis of interfacial structures and sum frequency generation spectra of aqueous hydrogen halide solutions

Molecular dynamics simulation for gas/liquid interfaces of aqueous hydrochloric (HCl) and hydroiodic (HI) acid solutions is performed to calculate and analyze their sum frequency generation (SFG) spectra. The present MD simulation supports the strong preference of hydronium ions at the topmost surface layer and a consequent formation of ionic double layers by the hydronium and halide ions near the interface. Accordingly, the orientational order of surface water in the double layers is reversed in the acid solutions from that in the salt (NaCl or NaI). The calculated SFG spectra of the O-H stretching region reproduce the experimental spectra of ssp and sps polarizations well. In the ssp spectra, the strong enhancement in the hydrogen-bonding region for the acid solutions is elucidated by two mechanisms, ordered orientation of water in the double layer and symmetric OH stretching of the surface hydronium ions. In the sps spectra, reversed orientation of surface water is evidenced in the spectral line shapes, which are quite different from those of the salt solutions.     

Emergence of charge-transfer-to-solvent band in the absorption spectra of hydrogen halides on ice nanoparticles: spectroscopic evidence for acidic dissociation

Extensive ab initio calculations complemented by a photodissociation experiment at 193 nm elucidate the nature of hydrogen halide molecules bound on free ice nanoparticles. Electronic absorption spectra of small water clusters (up to 5 water molecules) and water clusters doped with hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen bromide were calculated. The spectra were modeled at the time-dependent density functional (TDDFT) level of theory with the BHandHLYP functional using the reflection principle. We observe the emergence of a charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) band in the absorption spectra upon the acidic dissociation of the hydrogen halides. The CTTS band provides a spectroscopically observable feature for the acidic dissociation. The calculated spectra were compared with our new experimental photodissociation data for larger water clusters doped with HCl and HBr. We conclude that HCl and HBr dissociate to a large extent on the surface of ice nanoparticles at temperatures near 120 K and photoactive products are formed. The acidic dissociation of HX leads to an enhancement by about 4 orders of magnitude of the HCl photolysis rate in the 200-300 nm region, which is potentially relevant for the halogen budget in the atmosphere.