Adsorption and thermal chemistry of acrolein and crotonaldehyde on Pt(111) surfaces

The surface chemistry of acrolein and of crotonaldehyde on Pt(lll) single-crystal surfaces was investigated under vacuum by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and reflection-absorption infrared (RAIRS) spectroscopies. The main thermal decomposition path seen for both compounds was the expected decarbonylation of the unsaturated aldehyde to carbon monoxide and the corresponding olefin (ethene and propene, respectively), but small amounts of propene and ketene were detected in the case of acrolein as well. The RAIRS data indicate that while acrolein initially adsorbs with its plane parallel to the surface and interacts mainly via the carbonyl group, crotonaldehyde adopts a more complex geometry where the main interaction to the metal is via a rehybridization of the C=C double bond. It is suggested here that the changes in adsorption geometry induced by substitutions in the C=C double bond may be responsible for the observed changes in the subsequent reactivity of the adsorbed unsaturated aldehydes. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.