TY - JOUR
T1 - Using sers to understand the binding of n-heterocyclic carbenes to gold surfaces
AU - Trujillo, Michael J.
AU - Strausser, Shelby L.
AU - Becca, Jeffrey C.
AU - Dejesus, Joseph F.
AU - Jensen, Lasse
AU - Jenkins, David M.
AU - Camden, Jon P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers CHE-1709881, CHE-1709468, CHE-1362825, and NRT-1449785. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Portions of this work were conducted with Advanced Cyberinfrastructure computational resources provided by The Institute for Cyber-Science at The Pennsylvania State University (http://ics.psu.edu).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/12/6
Y1 - 2018/12/6
N2 - Surface functionalization is an essential component of most applications of noble-metal surfaces. Thiols and amines are traditionally employed to attach molecules to noble-metal surfaces, but they have limitations. A growing body of research, however, suggests that N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) can be readily employed for surface functionalization with superior chemical stability compared with thiols. We demonstrate the power of surface-enhanced Raman scattering combined with theory to present a comprehensive picture of NHC binding to gold surfaces. In particular, we synthesize a library of NHC isotopologues and use surface-enhanced Raman scattering to record the vibrational spectra of these NHCs while bound to gold surfaces. Our experimental data are compared with first-principles theory, yielding numerous new insights into the binding of NHCs to gold surfaces. In addition to these insights, we expect our approach to be a general method for probing the local surface properties of NHC-functionalized surfaces for their expanding use in sensing applications.
AB - Surface functionalization is an essential component of most applications of noble-metal surfaces. Thiols and amines are traditionally employed to attach molecules to noble-metal surfaces, but they have limitations. A growing body of research, however, suggests that N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) can be readily employed for surface functionalization with superior chemical stability compared with thiols. We demonstrate the power of surface-enhanced Raman scattering combined with theory to present a comprehensive picture of NHC binding to gold surfaces. In particular, we synthesize a library of NHC isotopologues and use surface-enhanced Raman scattering to record the vibrational spectra of these NHCs while bound to gold surfaces. Our experimental data are compared with first-principles theory, yielding numerous new insights into the binding of NHCs to gold surfaces. In addition to these insights, we expect our approach to be a general method for probing the local surface properties of NHC-functionalized surfaces for their expanding use in sensing applications.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02764
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02764
M3 - Article
C2 - 30350991
AN - SCOPUS:85056990793
VL - 9
SP - 6779
EP - 6785
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
SN - 1948-7185
IS - 23
ER -