Adsorption, decomposition and isomerization of methyl isocyanide and acetonitrile on Pd(111)

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1 Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 Adsorption, decomposition and isomerization of methyl isocyanide and acetonitrile on Pd() K. Murphy, S. Azad, D.W. Bennett, W.T. Tysoe * Department of Chemistry and Laboratory for Surface Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 52, USA Received 0 May 2000; accepted for publication 28 August 2000 Abstract The adsorption of methyl isocyanide (CH NC) and acetonitrile (CH CN) has been studied on Pd(). Methyl isocyanide adsorbs on Pd() at 80 K at low coverages with the isocyanide functionality oriented close to parallel to the surface; the surface-bound species reorients to a geometry in which the isocyanide group is perpendicular to the surface as the coverage increases. Desorbing the excess isocyanide recovers the parallel geometry. Heating to above ~00 K forms a third, thermally stable, rehybridized species with its CNN axis close to perpendicular to the surface. This thermally decomposes to desorb HCN and hydrogen at above 450 K. Acetonitrile is much less reactive and adsorbs in an g2(c,n) configuration where the adsorbate appears to maintain a reasonably linear CMCON geometry on the surface and which desorbs with no thermal decomposition at 225 K Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Adsorption kinetics; Molecular dynamics; Palladium; Reflection spectroscopy; Single crystal surfaces; Thermal desorption. Introduction also significantly more thermodynamically stable than methyl isocyanide, with an isomerization Isocyanides have been studied on transition- energy of ~7 kj/mol, so that it is of interest to metal surfaces since they are isoelectronic with probe the way in which this difference in energy perhaps the most studied adsorbate, carbon mon- affects the surface chemistry [ ]. Finally, and peroxide. While CO generally bonds on Group VIII haps of greatest interest, is the fact that polymeric metals via a synergistic bonding scheme with both systems designed to behave as molecular wires donation from the metal into empty 2p orbitals have been fabricated using aryl isocyanides in on CO and donation from the filled 6s orbital of which p-conjugation is maintained throughout the CO to the metal [], methyl isocyanide is a signifi- whole molecule [4,5]. The free isocyanide ligands cantly weaker p-acid since its 2p level lies much can potentially be attached to the surface so that higher in energy than that of CO [2]. It is therefore the p-conjugation is maintained at the surface. interesting from a fundamental point of view, to This offers the possibility of synthesizing molecucompare the surface chemistry of these molecules. lar-level conductors that are in electrical contact The isomer of methyl isocyanide, acetonitrile, is with the surface at the microscopic level. Understanding the way in which isocyanides bond * Corresponding author. Fax: address: wtt@csd.uwm.edu ( W.T. Tysoe) to the surface is therefore crucial to realizing this potential /00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S ( 00 )

2 2 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 Isocyanide adsorption has been studied pre- In the second chamber, the sample was mounted viously on various metal surfaces. On Pt() [6 on a carousel-geometry manipulator and could 8], CH CN was found to adsorb weakly to the similarly be resistively heated to 2000 K and cooled surface in a parallel structure (through both the to 80 K by thermal contact with a liquid nitrogenterminal carbon and the nitrogen), and CH NC filled reservoir. Temperature programmed desorp- was found to bond strongly in an upright structure tion ( TPD) data were generally collected using a with the terminal carbon bonded to two metal heating rate of ~0 K/s, and desorbing species atoms. Acetonitrile (methyl cyanide) was investieter interfaced to a PC allowing five masses to be detected using a Dycor quadrupole mass spectrom- gated further on Pt() [9] and again found to adsorb parallel to the surface with a possible monitored sequentially during the same desorption interaction between the b-hydrogens and the surrate of 20 K/s was employed to detect species sweep. In some cases, however, a faster heating face. On supported Pt/SiO [0], similar results were found for both compounds. On powdered desorbing at higher temperatures. The sample was Au [,2], isocyanides were bound weakly to the dosed via a tube which minimized background contamination and dosing of the supports. This metal in a linear structure with the terminal carbon gave a pressure enhancement compared with the bonded to one metal atom. Isocyanides were found background pressure of ~58 [2]. In order to to adsorb strongly on Ni() and Ni(00) [ further minimize spurious signals, the mass spec- 5] in a parallel structure. On Rh() [6], the trometer is enclosed in a shroud with a cm isocyanide bonds strongly also in a parallel strucdiameter hole in the front. ture at low coverages, but converts to a vertical The sample is cleaned using a standard prostructure at higher coverages. On supported cedure which consists of heating at 000 K in Rh/Al O [7], again the isocyanide was found to 2 ~4 0 8 Torr of oxygen and then annealing at stand up. Finally, on Ag() [8], isocyanides 200 K in vacuo to remove any remaining oxygen. bond weakly in a parallel or close to parallel Since the carbon KLL Auger feature is effectively orientation. obscured by a strong palladium peak, Auger spectroscopy is not particularly sensitive to the presence of small amounts of carbon on the sur- 2. Experimental face. It was found that a more sensitive gauge of carbon coverage was to saturate the surface with Experiments were carried out in two stainless- oxygen and perform a TPD experiment. The presence steel, ultra-high vacuum chambers operating at of surface carbon is manifest by the desorpsteel, base pressures of 0 0 Torr following bakeout, tion of CO. As the surface becomes depleted of and which have been described in detail elsewhere carbon, the CO yield decreases and the yield of [9,20]. Infrared data were collected from a pallacomplete oxygen increases correspondingly in intensity. The dium single crystal sample mounted in a modified absence of carbon is indicated by the 2 six-way cross equipped with infrared-transpar- desorption of only O. 4 2 ent, KBr windows. The sample could be resistively Methyl isocyanide was prepared using literature heated to 2000 K or cooled to 80 K using liquid methods from N-methylformamide (Aldrich, 99%) nitrogen. Light from a Midac model M2000 infraphosphorus pentoxide. The compounds were [22]. Acetonitrile (Aldrich, 99%) was distilled over red spectrometer passes through a polarizer and is focused on the sample at an incidence angle of transferred to glass vials and further purified by ~80, and the reflected light steered onto the repeated freeze pump thaw cycles, and their cleanliness monitored mass spectroscopically. detector of a liquid nitrogen-cooled, mercury cadmium telluride detector. The complete light path is enclosed and purged with dry, CO -free air. The 2 spectrometer is controlled using SpectraCalc software. Results and typically operated at 4 cm resolution. Fig. displays the infrared spectra collected Data were typically collected for 000 scans. following the adsorption of.8 L ( L=

3 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 Table Frequencies and assignments of the RAIR spectrum collected by dosing Pd() with.8 L of methyl isocyanide at 80 K (species ) (see Fig. ) CH NC gas-phase Assignment Frequency of frequency C symmetry CH NC/Pd() v (cm ) [2] (cm ) 266 n(con) (a ) d(ch ) (e) 429 d(ch )(a ) r(ch ) (e) Fig.. Reflection absorption infrared spectra (RAIRS) of.8 L methyl isocyanide adsorbed on Pd() at 80 K and annealed to various temperatures displayed between 000 and 200 cm. The annealing temperature is marked adjacent to each spectrum. Fig. 2. Expanded RAIRS of methyl isocyanide adsorbed on Pd() at 80 K (.8 L) and annealed to various temperatures following desorption of the multilayer. The annealing temper- ature is marked adjacent to each spectrum. 0 6 Torr s) of methyl isocyanide on Pd() at 80 K and shows the effect of annealing the sample to various temperatures. Exposures were not corrected for ionization gauge sensitivities. In these experiments, the sample was heated to the indicated temperature for a period of 5 s in vacuo and then allowed to cool to 80 K following which the spectrum was collected. Note that the spectra collected at 80, 00 and 20 K have been scaled by a factor of five compared with the others. These spectra are essentially identical and exhibit features at 270 and 459 cm. The spectral assignments are shown in Table and the frequencies of the adsorbed species compared with the gas-phase values. These frequencies are close to the gasphase values, except that the methyl bending mode increases slightly in frequency. This will be discussed in greater detail below. As the sample is heated to above 20 K, the spectrum changes broad features at ~85 and 840 cm and sharp modes at 447, 98 and 25 cm for sample temperatures of 250 and 00 K. The 85 cm mode increases in intensity as the temperature increases, and the frequencies of the other modes shift slightly to 450, 99 and 0 cm. The relative intensities of these features are completely considerably and now displays significantly more different from those for spectra collected at lower peaks. These spectra are displayed with an temperatures and, in particular, the d(ch ) mode expanded absorbance scale in Fig. 2 and show at 445 and the r(ch ) mode at 25 cm are

4 4 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 completely absent below 40 K. In addition, the annealing to above 20 K ( Fig. ) restores species isocyanide stretching mode is at a significantly 2 ( Fig. 2). A similar interconversion between two lower frequency than found for the low-temper- species as a function of coverage has been observed ature spectra, indicating that these bonds are weakened previously on Rh() [6]. The frequencies of on adsorption. species 2 are summarized in Table 2 and assigned Fig. displays a series of spectra collected by by comparison with the gas-phase frequencies [2]. sequentially exposing the Pd() surface to As the sample is heated further, the data of increasing amounts of methyl isocyanide at 80 K, Fig. 2 show that the 84 cm feature increases exhibiting peaks at 25, 98, 447 and in intensity. Such a change in intensity indicates 842 cm at exposures of 0.5 and 0.9 L. As the that the molecular orientation is changing. The exposure increases to 0.9 L and above, the intensity ratio of the 447 and 98 cm features 840 cm feature decreases in intensity and is also varies, with the 98 cm mode increasing replaced by a sharp peak at 270 cm. The 270 in intensity relative to that at 447 cm. In addition, and 459 cm features grow with increasing coverage. the 447 cm peak shifts slightly to This species predominates at even higher 450 cm. The frequencies and corresponding exposures, as indicated by the data in Fig.. These assignments of this species (designated species ) results indicate that there are two species present are shown in Table. The nature of these various on the surface. Species, the frequencies of which surface species will be discussed below. Finally, are shown in Table, appears at high coverages the 84 cm feature decreases in intensity once for temperatures between 80 and 20 K. Species 2 again as the sample is heated to 450 K, and the is present at low coverages, exhibiting peaks at features are essentially absent on warming to 840, 447, 98 and 25 cm. Removal of 575 K. All that remains at this temperature are methyl isocyanide from a high-coverage surface by broad peaks at 200 and 98 cm, and these Table 2 Frequencies and assignments of the RAIR spectrum collected by dosing Pd() with.8 L of methyl isocyanide at 80 K and heating to above 20 K (species 2) (see Fig. 2) CH NC gas-phase Assignment Frequency of frequency (cm ) C v symmetry CH NC/Pd() [2] (cm ) 266 n(con) (a ) d(ch ) (e) d(ch )(a ) r(ch ) (e) 25 Table Frequencies and assignments of the RAIR spectrum collected by dosing Pd() with.8 L of methyl isocyanide at 80 K and heating to above 00 K (species ) (see Fig. 2) CH NC gas-phase Assignment Frequency of frequency (cm ) C v symmetry CH NC/Pd() [2] (cm ) 266 n(con) (a ) d(ch ) (e) 450 Fig.. RAIRS of methyl isocyanide adsorbed on Pd() at 429 d(ch )(a ) K as a function of exposure. The methyl isocyanide expo- 29 r(ch ) (e) 0 sures are marked adjacent to each spectrum.

5 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 5 Fig. 4. RAIRS of acetonitrile adsorbed on Pd() at 80 K as a function of exposure displayed between 000 and 200 cm. Exposures are marked adjacent to each spectrum. are assigned to acetonitrile adsorbed in second and subsequent layers. Additional features are evident at an exposure of.0 L, although multilayer adsorption has clearly commenced prior to the completion of the chemisorbed overlayer. These are assigned to acetonitrile adsorbed in the monolayer and exhibit a broad feature at 756 with additional sharper peaks at 04 and 27 cm. The corresponding TPD spectra are displayed in Figs Fig. 5 displays the 4 amu TPD spectra for acetonitrile (CH CN) adsorbed on Pd() at 80 K. This mass corresponds to the desorption of molecular acetonitrile, and this assignment is confirmed by comparing the yield at various masses with the corresponding mass spectrometer ionizer fragmentation pattern. No other desorption products are detected. It is evident that the monolayer desorbs in a single state centered at 225 K. At higher exposures, a feature appears at 40 K which is assigned to the desorption of acetonitrile multilayers since it continues to grow finally disappear completely on heating to 650 K (not shown). The infrared spectra of acetonitrile adsorbed on Pd() at 80 K are shown in Fig. 4 as a function of exposure. The spectrum after a 4.0 L exposure displays features at 040, 7, 40, 447 and 2249 cm. The peaks are compared with gasphase acetonitrile [2] in Table 4 and this indicates that acetonitrile adsorbs molecularly on Pd( ) at 80 K. These features disappear on heating to ~60 K. Based on TPD data (see below), these Table 4 Frequencies and assignments of the RAIR spectrum collected by dosing Pd() with 4.0 L of acetonitrile at 80 K and heating to above 250 K (see Fig. 7) CH NC gas-phase Assignment Frequency of frequency (cm ) C v symmetry CH NC/Pd() [2] (cm ) 2267 n(con) (a ) d(ch ) (e) 447, d(ch )(a) 7 04 r(ch ) (e) 040 Fig. 5. TPD spectra collected at 4 amu (CH CN) as a function of acetonitrile exposure using a heating rate of 0 K/s. Exposures are marked adjacent to the corresponding spectrum.

6 6 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 Fig. 6. TPD spectra collected at 40 amu (CH NC or CH CN ) as a function of methyl isocyanide exposure using a heating rate of 0 K/s. Exposures are marked adjacent to the corresponding spectrum. Fig. 7. TPD spectra collected at 26 amu (HCN) as a function of methyl isocyanide exposure using a heating rate of 20 K/s. Exposures are marked adjacent to the corresponding spectrum. all modes would be visible in a randomly oriented multilayer. with increasing exposure without saturating. The The corresponding 26 amu TPD spectra, now features displayed in Table 4 are assigned to the taken with a heating rate of 20 K/s, are displayed presence of second and subsequent acetonitrile in Fig. 7 and show an intense peak at 495 K. layers. The appearance of all modes irrespective Measuring the desorption spectrum at other of symmetry supports this view. The species with masses shows that this is due to HCN desorption. frequencies at 756, 04 and 27 cm are thus The peak at 25 K is due to the fragmentation of assigned to acetonitrile adsorbed on the Pd( ) methyl isocyanide in the mass spectrometer ionizer. surface. Hydrogen desorption is also detected at 495 K, We turn our attention now to the desorption coincident with HCN formation. spectra of methyl isocyanide (CH NC). The 40 amu TPD spectra taken with a heating rate of 0 K/s collected following adsorption of methyl 4. Discussion isocyanide on Pd() are displayed in Fig. 6. This displays a sharp feature at ~25 K. The desorp- Two distinct methyl isocyanide species are tion of this species corresponds to the infrared formed depending on coverage in the temperature spectral changes observed on annealing the surface range 80 to 20 K, which are designated species to 40 K (Fig. ). In spite of the relatively low (Table ) and 2 (Table 2). Species 2 is formed at desorption temperature, this species is not assigned low coverages but converts into species as the to the multilayer, since it appears at relatively low exposure increases ( Fig. ). It is reformed when exposures and only modes of a symmetry are the excess methyl isocyanide desorbs on annealing detected in the infrared spectrum ( Table ), while to 40 K (Fig. ), corresponding to isocyanide

7 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 7 desorption at 25 K ( Figs. 6 and 7), emphasizing effect that has been observed previously on that the interconversion between these species is Rh() [6]. reversible. We turn our attention initially to identifying the nature of species (Table ), which exhibits frequencies that are very close to gasphase methyl isocyanide [2]. Adsorbate geometries can, in favorable cases, be elucidated using infrared spectroscopy, since only the totally symmetric vibrational modes (with a symmetry, i.e. with dipole moments oriented perpendicular to the surface) are detected [24]. It is clear from Table that only a modes are detected, and that all of the modes of e symmetry are forbidden, so that the principle C symmetry axis of the molecule is v oriented normal to the Pd() surface. This indi- C C Symmetry v s cates that this structure of species is: a a x, y a a 2 e a +a x, y, z As the temperature increases to 00 K, a further spectral transformation takes place producing species ( Fig. 2; Table ). Since the intensity of the isocyanide mode at 84 cm increases significantly as this species forms, this suggests that the isocyanide bond becomes oriented more closely with the surface normal and its bond order is significantly reduced. The continued presence of all the modes due to the methyl species implies that the methyl mode is oriented at some intermediate angle with respect to the surface. A proposed structure for species is depicted below: where both the CON and the CMN bonds are oriented perpendicular to the surface. Species 2 ( Table 2) has a significantly lower symmetry, since a number of methyl modes that are forbidden in species are detected in species 2. Note, in addi- tion, that the intensity of the 840 cm (isocya- nide) mode is very low ( Fig. 2). This indicates that the isocyanide functionality is oriented with its axis close to parallel to the surface. The presence of the 447, 98 and 25 cm methyl modes further indicates that the carbonmmethyl bond is oriented at some intermediate angle to the surface, and the proposed surface structure is depicted below. Species 2 has C symmetry and the C to s v C correlation table is displayed adjacent to the s figure. In this case, the x-axis is perpendicular to the surface, so that all of the vibrational modes now become formally infrared active. The low intensity, however, of the isocyanide stretching mode, as noted above, indicates that this is oriented nearly parallel to the surface, as depicted in the figure. This species interconverts to species as the methyl isocyanide coverage increases, an The isocyanide bond is depicted as oriented normal to the surface, although the exact orientation is not known. Species is remarkably stable on the surface and persists up to a surface temperature of above 400 K. Methyl groups adsorbed on Pd() ther- mally decompose to yield carbon and hydrogen at ~00 K, and the methyl species hydrogenates to methane at 20 K on this surface [25,26]. The

8 8 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 remoteness of the methyl group from the surface an g2(c,n) species. The similarly large shift on in species clearly renders it significantly less Pd() suggests that a similar species is present, labile. This species does, however, begin to ther- although the mode is softened slightly less on mally decompose at ~450 K. No methane desorption Pd() than on Pt( ). Interestingly, the modes is detected, so that the methyl group associated with the methyl species were only immediately undergoes thermal decomposition. slightly perturbed from their gas-phase values on The observation of simultaneous desorption of Pt() whereas, assuming that the 04 and HCN (Fig. 7) and hydrogen in TPD spectra, coincident 27 cm modes on Pd() are methyl bending with the loss of features due to species modes (Fig. 4), these modes appear to be signifi- ( Fig. 2), indicates that this decomposes to yield cantly more strongly perturbed on palladium than HCN and H, and that this is limited by the rate platinum. This implies that the methyl modes for 2 of decomposition of species. acetonitrile adsorbed on Pd() interact with the The reaction pathway for methyl isocyanide surface more strongly than on platinum. This adsorbed on Pd() is summarized in Scheme. suggests that the cyanide carbon is less strongly The chemistry of acetonitrile is significantly sim- perturbed on platinum than on palladium, resulting pler, since it adsorbs molecularly on the surface in a more linear CMCON bond in the latter and desorbs as an intact molecule at 225 K case. Certainly the less strongly perturbed CON ( Fig. 5). Assuming that this desorption is a firstorder stretching frequency {755 cm on Pd() process with a pre-exponential factor of versus 680 cm on Pt() [9]} is in accord with.0 0 s, the desorption activation energy is this conclusion. Thus, acetonitrile is proposed to 55 kj/mol [27]. This is not surprising, since aceto- adsorb in an g2(c,n) configuration on Pd( ), nitrile is significantly more stable than methyl but with a substantially lower extent of rehybrid- isocyanide, where the heat of isomerization is ization than on platinum. ~7 kj/mol []. The multilayer desorbs at ~40 K ( Fig. 5), and the monolayer exhibits features at 755, 04 and 27 cm. The 5. Conclusions 755 cm feature is assigned to a CON stretching mode that has been softened considerably due to Methyl isocyanide adsorbs on Pd() at 80 K, interaction with the surface. The CON stretching where the orientation depends on coverage, with frequency is similarly softened to ~680 cm on a parallel orientation predominating at low coverages Pt() [9], where it is assigned to the presence of but converting to a perpendicular orientation Scheme.

9 K. Murphy et al. / Surface Science 467 (2000) 9 9 as the coverage increases. On heating to between [9] E.C. Ou, P.A. Young, P.R. Norton, Surf. Sci. 277 (992) 00 and 400 K, methyl isocyanide converts to a 2. [0] T. Szilagyi, Appl. Surf. Sci. 5 (988) 9. third species in which the isocyanide bond is [] M.J. Robertson, R.J. Angelici, Langmuir 0 (994) 488. oriented perpendicular to the surface, but with the [2] K.-C. Shih, R.J. Angelici, Langmuir (995) 259. carbon substantially rehybridized. This species [] C.M. Friend, E.L. Muetterities, J.L. Gland, J. Phys. Chem. thermally decomposes on heating, and the pro- 85 (98) 256. ducts thermally desorb as HCN at 495 K. In [4] C.M. Friend, J. Stein, E.L. Muetterties, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 0 (98) 767. contrast, acetonitrile adsorbs and desorbs molecu- [5] J.C. Hemminger, E.L. Muetterties, G.A. Somorjai, J. Am. larly at 255 K and adopts an g2(c,n) configura- Chem. Soc. 0 (979) 62. tion, where the acetonitrile appears to maintain a [6] S. Semancik, G.L. Haller, J.T. Yates, J. Chem. Phys. 78 reasonably linear CMCON bond on the surface. (98) [7] R.R. Cavanagh, J.T. Yates, J. Chem. Phys. 75 (98) 55. [8] S.T. Ceyer, J.T. Yates, J. Phys. Chem. 89 (985) 842. [9] G. Wu, B. Bartlett, W.T. Tysoe, Surf. Sci. 7 (997) 29. [20] M. Kaltchev, A.W. Thompson, W.T. Tysoe, Surf. Sci. 9 References (997) 45. [2] S. Azad, D.W. Bennett, W.T. Tysoe, in: Surf. Sci. (2000), [] G. Blyholder, C.A. Coulson, Trans. Faraday Soc. 6 submitted. (967) 782. [22] J. Casanova, R.E. Schuster, N.D. Werner, J. Chem. Soc. [2] W.L. Jorgensen, L. Salem, The Organic Chemists Book of (96) Orbitals, Academic Press, New York, 97. [2] T. Shimanouchi, Molecular vibrational frequencies, in: [] M.H. Baghal-Vayjooee, J.L. Collister, H.O. Pritchard, W.G. Mallard, P.J. Linstrom (Eds.), NIST Chemistry Can. J. Chem. 55 (977) 264. WebBook, NIST Standard Reference Database Number [4] J. Chen, L.C. Calvet, M.A. Reed, D.W. Carr, D.S. Grubisha, 69 National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaith- D.W. Bennett, Chem. Phys. Lett. (999) 74. ersburg, MD, 998. [5] N.L. Wagner, F.E. Laib, D.W. Bennett, Inorg. Chem. [24] J.T. Yates, J.E. Madey (Eds.), Vibrational Spectroscopy Commun. (2000) 87. of Molecules on Surfaces, Plenum Press, New York, 987. [6] N.R. Avery, T.W. Matheson, Surf. Sci. 4 (984) 0. [25] J.-J. Chen, N. Winograd, Surf. Sci. 4 (994) 88. [7] N.R. Avery, T.W. Matheson, B.A. Sexton, Appl. Surf. Sci. [26] F. Solymosi, L. Kovacs, I. Révész, Surf. Sci. 56 (996) 22/2 (985) [8] B.A. Sexton, N.R. Avery, Surf. Sci. 29 (98) 2. [27] P.A. Redhead, Vacuum 2 (962) 20.