Letter abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 2, 285 - 289 (2007)
Published online: 22 April 2007 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.106
Subject Category: Surface patterning and imaging
Real-time single-molecule imaging of oxidation catalysis at a liquid–solid interface
Bas Hulsken1, Richard Van Hameren2, Jan W. Gerritsen1, Tony Khoury3, Pall Thordarson2,3, Maxwell J. Crossley3, Alan E. Rowan4, Roeland J. M. Nolte2, Johannes A. A. W. Elemans1,2 & Sylvia Speller1
Abstract
Many chemical reactions are catalysed by metal complexes, and insight into their mechanisms is essential for the design of future catalysts. A variety of conventional spectroscopic techniques are available for the study of reaction mechanisms at the ensemble level, and, only recently, fluorescence microscopy techniques have been applied to monitor single chemical reactions carried out on crystal faces1 and by enzymes2, 3, 4. With scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) it has become possible to obtain, during chemical reactions, spatial information at the atomic level5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The majority of these STM studies have been carried out under ultrahigh vacuum, far removed from conditions encountered in laboratory processes. Here we report the single-molecule imaging of oxidation catalysis by monitoring, with STM, individual manganese porphyrin catalysts, in real time, at a liquid–solid interface. It is found that the oxygen atoms from an O2 molecule are bound to adjacent porphyrin catalysts on the surface before their incorporation into an alkene substrate.
- Scanning Probe Microscopy, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Physical Organic and Supramolecular Chemistry, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Molecular Materials, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Correspondence to: Johannes A. A. W. Elemans1,2 e-mail: j.elemans@science.ru.nl
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