Orientation and bonding of benzoic acid, phthalic anhydride and pyromellitic dianhydride on Cu(110)

Abstract

The interaction of the polyimide precursor pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), and the related compounds benzoic acid and phthalic anhydride, with Cu(110) has been studied by high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). For benzoic acid, deprotonation of the carboxylic acid group occurs on adsorption leading to the formation of a surface benzoate species (C 6H 5COO-). Bonding to the surface occurs through a carboxylate linkage via two equivalent oxygen atoms. The HREEL spectrum is characterised by an intense dipole active band, the symmetric OCO stretching vibration, at ∼ 1420 cm −1. The plane of the carboxylate group is aligned perpendicular to the surface as is the plane of the benzene ring. A similar species is found following exposure of Cu(110) to phthalic anhydride. The carboxylate linkage results from disruption of the anhydride ring with loss of the CO character (C 6H 4COO-). In the case of the dianhydride species PMDA, only one of the anhydride units is used in bonding to the surface; the second unit points away from the surface and is characterised by the symmetric anhydride stretch at 1255 cm −1 and weak OO stretching vibrations at ∼ 1850 cm −1. In both cases, changes in the intensity of some of the bands compared with benzoic acid suggest that the carboxylate group is tilted away from the surface normal due to an interaction between one of the carbons of the aromatic ring and the copper surface. This implies that the plane of the aromatic ring is now twisted out of the plane of the carboxylate group and, although still perpendicular to the surface, the axis is tilted to allow one of the β-carbon atoms to interact with the surface. In all cases, off-specular measurements at a primary electron energy of ∼ 8 eV are dominated by the intense CH stretching vibration. Measurements of the intensity of this mode, in the surface benzoate species, as a function of incident electron energy suggest that excitation of this mode occurs via a resonance scattering mechanism.