Surface-induced photoreaction of benzyl phenyl sulfide monolayers on silver and its application to preparing patterned binary monolayers

Benzyl phenyl sulfide (BPS, C6H5CH2-S-C6H5) is readily converted on silver to benzenethiolate by irradiation with visible light. By using this knowledge and invoking the fact that BPS is easily replaced by carboxylic acids, we have demonstrated by surface-enhanced Raman scattering that patterned binary monolayers can be prepared on silver using the self-assembled monolayers of BPS as a lithographic template. Although the example shown in this work, that is, binary monolayers composed of benzenethiolate and 4-cyanobenzoate, is rather preliminary and quite limited in scope, its application prospects are thought to be very good. Because surface-induced photoreaction of aromatic sulfides including BPS can occur even on gold induced by UV radiation, the present method is expected to be applicable to forming patterns and structures with a wide variety of materials on silver and gold with features that range from nanometers to micrometers in size.