Core hole screening and lifetimes in adsorbates on metallic surfaces

The C 1s photoemission lineshape and width has been studied for methoxy (CH₃O), formate (HCO₂) and CO on Cu(100). We find the Doniach-Sunjic asymmetry of the lineshape to be different for the three adsorbates and correlate these differences with the adsorption geometry. The observed shake up satellites exhibit a greatly increased width compared to the main lines, which is attributed to the reduced lifetime of the excited state of the C 1s core hole.     

Reactions of formaldehyde and methanol on clean,carburized and oxidized Mo(100) surfaces

The reactions of formaldehyde and methanol have been studied on clean, carburized, and oxidized Mo(100) surfaces using temperature programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS). The thermal cracking of ethylene at 550 K and the adsorption of molecular oxygen at 1050 K were used to carburize and oxidize, respectively, the clean surface to saturation. Both the carbide and oxide surfaces showed (1×1) LEED features. Methanol decomposed to give hydrogen atoms and methoxy intermediates upon adsorption on the clean Mo(100) surface at 200 K. The methoxy intermediate was stable up to 340 K. Adsorbed carbon and oxygen suppressed the dissociation of the hydroxyl hydrogen from the alcohol and yielded a significantly different activity and selectivity compared to the very reactive clean surface. The binding energies for both formaldehyde and methanol on the three surfaces were similar, demonstrating the weak sensitivity of donor-acceptor bonds to surface modifiers. The results in this study were very similar to those previously observed for W(100) though different adlayer structures were present. This similarity suggested that the modification in surface reactivity was primarily a compositional effect.     

Origin of the selectivity in the gold-mediated oxidation of benzyl alcohol

Benzyl alcohol has received substantial attention as a probe molecule to test the selectivity and efficiency of novel metallic gold catalysts. Herein, the mechanisms of benzyl alcohol oxidation on a gold surface covered with atomic oxygen are elucidated; the results show direct correspondence to the reaction on gold-based catalysts. The selective, partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde is achieved with low oxygen surface concentrations and takes place through dehydrogenation of the alcohol to form benzaldehyde via a benzyloxy (C₆H₅–CH₂O) intermediate. While in this case atomic oxygen plays solely a dehydrogenating role, at higher concentrations it leads to the formation of intermediates from benzaldehyde, producing benzoic acid and CO₂. Facile ester (benzyl benzoate) formation also occurs at low oxygen concentrations, which indicates that benzoic acid is not a precursor of further oxidation of the ester; instead, the ester is produced by the coupling of adsorbed benzyloxy and benzaldehyde. Key to the high selectivity seen at low oxygen concentrations is the fact that the production of the aldehyde (and esters) is kinetically favored over the production of benzoic acid.     

Role of surface-bound intermediates in the oxygen-assisted synthesis of amides by metallic silver and gold

A general mechanism for the oxygen-assisted synthesis of amides over metallic gold and silver surfaces has been derived from the study of acetaldehyde and dimethylamine in combination with previous work, allowing detailed comparison of the two surfaces' reactivities. Facile acetylation of dimethylamine by acetaldehyde occurs with high selectivity on oxygen-covered silver and gold (111) crystals via a common overall mechanism with different rate-limiting steps on the two metals. Adsorbed atomic oxygen activates the N-H bond of the amine leading to the formation of an adsorbed amide, which attacks the carbonyl carbon of the aldehyde, forming an adsorbed hemiaminal. Because aldehydes are known to form readily from partial oxidation of alcohols, our mechanism also provides insight into the related catalytic coupling of alcohols and amines. The hemiaminal β-H eliminates to form the coupled amide product. On silver, β-H elimination from the hemiaminal is rate-limiting, whereas on gold desorption of the amide is the slow step. Silver exhibits high selectivity for the coupling reaction for adsorbed oxygen concentrations between 0.01 and 0.1 monolayer, whereas gold exhibits selectivity more strongly dependent on oxygen coverage, approaching 100% at 0.03 monolayer. The selectivity trends and difference in rate-limiting steps are likely due to the influence of the relative stability of the adsorbed hydroxyl groups on the two surfaces. Low surface coverages of oxygen lead to the highest selectivity. This study provides a general framework for the oxygen-assisted coupling of alcohols and aldehydes with amines over gold- and silver-based catalysts in either the vapor or the liquid phase.     

An FTIR study of the bonding of methoxy on Ni(100): effects of coadsorbed sulfur, carbon monoxide and hydrogen

The vibrational spectra of CH₃O_(a), CD₃O_(a), CDH₂O_(a) and CD₂HO_(a) on Ni(100) are analyzed and interpreted in terms of resonances between fundamental modes and either combinations or overtones. Analysis of the symmetry of the modes observed suggests that methoxy binds normal to the surface with C_s symmetry, at least at low coverages. Two distinct vibrational bands emerge in the vibrational spectrum of methoxy in the v(CO) region as the coverage increases which are attributed to bonding in four-fold hollow sites and bridging sites. These bands exhibit blue shifts of about 25 cm⁻¹ with increasing coverage up to the saturation coverage. The vibrational bands in the v(CH) region appear concomitantly at all coverages and shift down 12 cm⁻¹ as the coverage is increased. These shifts are attributed to changes in the metal-oxygen bond which are reflected in changes in the strength of the C---O and C---H bonds. Affects on the bonding also appear to occur with the coadsorption of hydrogen or CO with methoxy. Coadsorption of 0.36 ML hydrogen with 0.04 ML methoxy induces blue shifts of 15 and 7 cm⁻¹ for the v(CO) bands at 949 and 984 cm⁻¹, respectively. Adsorbing 0.43 ML of CO with 0.04 ML methoxy (and 0.04 ML hydrogen) causes a red shift of 20 and 12 cm⁻¹ for these bands. A drastic drop in mode intensities for methoxy when CO is coadsorbed suggests that the methoxy tilts away from the surface normal. Pre-adsorbing sulfur on the Ni(100) surface reduces the amount of methoxy formed from methanol, but the v(CO) methoxy bands are unshifted in frequencies relative to their position for the same methoxy coverage on the clean surface.