Explosive enantiospecific decomposition of aspartic acid on Cu surfaces

Abstract

Aspartic acid adsorbed on Cu surfaces is doubly deprotonated. On chiral Cu(643)^R&S its enantiomers undergo enantiospecific decomposition via an autocatalytic explosion. Once initiated, the decomposition mechanism proceeds via sequential cleavage of the C3–C4 and C1–C2 bonds each yielding CO₂, followed by conversion of the remaining species into NCCH₃.