The decomposition of nitrobenzene on a Cu(110) surface

The decomposition of nitrobenzene on Cu(110) has been studied using Anger and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopies. The Auger spectrum of the decomposed species indicates the presence of carbon and oxygen but no nitrogen. A direct comparison of the energy loss spectrum to that of phenol on Cu(110) excludes the decomposition of nitrobenzene to phenoxy. The difference between the on-specular HREELS spectra along the [001] and [110] azimuths and the appearance of the B-1 mode in RAIRS indicates a C-1 symmetry for the surface species with the molecular plane aligned close to the [110] azimuth.

From ab initio calculations, typical non-crossing potential energy surfaces have been found for decomposition of the nitrobenzene adsorbed on a Cu cluster. By increasing the size of the Cu clusters, the repulsive state is effectively stablised, the intersection distance between this PES and the attractive ground state PES is shortened and the dissociation barrier is reduced. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.