Covalent Adsorption of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes on a Copper Oxide Surface
Juan J. Navarro, Mowpriya Das, Sergio Tosoni, Felix Landwehr, Jared P. Bruce, Markus Heyde, Gianfranco Pacchioni, Frank Glorius, Beatriz Roldán Cuenya
Abstract
Tuning the properties of oxide surfaces through the adsorption of designed ligands is highly desirable for several applications, such as catalysis. N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been successfully employed as ligands for the modification of metallic surfaces. On the other hand, their potential as modifiers of ubiquitous oxide surfaces still needs to be developed. Here we show that a model NHC binds covalently to a copper oxide surface under UHV conditions. In particular, we report the first example of a covalent bond between NHCs and oxygen atoms from the oxide layer. This study demonstrates that NHC can also act as a strong anchor on oxide surfaces.