Vibrational Sum-Frequency Generation Study of Morpholine at Air–Liquid and Air–Solution Interfaces

Abstract

The structure and orientation of interfacial morpholine molecules have been investigated, using vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy—a nonlinear surface specific technique. The VSFG spectra with SSP and PPP polarizations have been measured in the CH (2800–3000 cm–1) and the OH (3000–3750 cm–1) stretch regions at the air–morpholine and air–solution interfaces. The vibrational frequencies in the CH stretch region could be observed in VSFG spectra, implying presence of morpholine molecules at the interfaces with net polar orientation. The intensities of the CH stretch bands get enhanced at the air–solution interface of morpholine solution in millimolar concentration, in comparison to that at the air–morpholine interface which is attributed to increase in polar orientation of interfacial morpholine molecules induced by water molecules. In pure morpholine, the most predominant conformation of molecules is equatorial chair, both in the bulk and at the air–morpholine interface. But in aqueous solution of morpholine, the contribution from axial chair conformer is known to increase. This effect, and also a probable change from the chair to the boat/twist boat conformation at the air–solution interface, may contribute to the enhanced intensity of VSFG peaks of CH stretch bands in solution. The VSFG intensities of the OH stretching frequencies of interfacial water molecules are also enhanced in the presence of morpholine, suggesting an increase in net polar orientation of water molecules induced by morpholine molecules. The VSFG spectra were also measured in the presence of 300 mM HCl, which showed indications of protonation of the interfacial morpholine molecules. Addition of HCl to aqueous solution of morpholine alters the orientation of interfacial water molecules significantly, and the enhanced VSFG intensities in the OH region induced by morpholine molecules are almost completely obliterated. The result suggests that orientation of interfacial water molecules in the presence of HCl gets random. However, the effects of HCl in the CH region of the VSFG spectra differ for different stretching bands. In presence of readily ionizable HCl molecules, a large number of ions are generated, which are probably responsible for changing the surface orientation of both water and morpholine molecules.