Issue 7, 2018

An experimental and theoretical study of adenine adsorption on Au(111)

Abstract

A model study of adenine adsorption on the Au(111) surface is reported for molecular adlayers prepared by evaporation in vacuum and deposition from saturated aqueous solution. The electronic structure and adsorption geometry of the molecular films were studied experimentally by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Adsorption models are proposed for the adlayers arising from the different preparation methods. Density functional theory calculations were used to examine both parallel and upright adenine adsorption geometries, supply additional information on the bond strength, and identify which atom is involved in bonding to Au(111). In the case of deposition in vacuum, the adenine molecule is bound via van der Waals forces to Au(111) with the molecular plane parallel to the surface, consistent with the published scanning tunneling microscopy data on this system. The most stable parallel adenine configuration was found to have an adsorption energy of ca. −1.1 eV using the optB86b-vdW functional. For adenine deposition from aqueous solution, the adlayer is disordered, with molecules in an upright geometry, and with an adsorption energy of ca. −1.0 eV, coordinated via the imino N3 nitrogen atom. The present study contributes to the substantial literature of model studies of adenine on Au(111), complementing the existing knowledge with information on electronic structure, bonding geometry and adsorption energy of this system.

Graphical abstract: An experimental and theoretical study of adenine adsorption on Au(111)

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Dec 2017
Accepted
19 Jan 2018
First published
19 Jan 2018

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2018,20, 4688-4698

An experimental and theoretical study of adenine adsorption on Au(111)

R. G. Acres, X. Cheng, K. Beranová, S. Bercha, T. Skála, V. Matolín, Y. Xu, K. C. Prince and N. Tsud, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2018, 20, 4688 DOI: 10.1039/C7CP08102B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements