New insight brought by density functional theory on the chemical state of alaninol on Cu(100): energetics and interpretation of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data.

In recent years, an increasing interest has been focused on the adsorption of molecules on surfaces due to the importance of technologies based on the interaction of organic systems with metals and oxides for biosensors, catalysis, and molecularly imprinted polymer technology. A particularly attractive area is the study of chiral surfaces, as these can act as heterogeneous catalysts and sensors in the stereochemical industrial processes. This work reports on an ab initio simulation of chemisorption of the D-alaninol on Cu (100). This system has been investigated systematically by using the Vienna ab initio simulation Package (VASP) which performs density functional theory (DFT) calculations in periodic boundary conditions. Molecular dynamics at 300 K is performed to explore all the possible geometries, finally, optimized at 0 K to obtain the adsorption modes. C 1s, O 1s, and N 1s, core level shift (CLS) calculations of those adsorption modes have been evaluated and compared with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy experimental data. Energetic and CLS indicate that both chemical functions, the NH(2) and the dehydrogenated hydroxyl, are involved in the bonding to the surface at low coverage. Atomic hydrogen coadsorbs in a fourfold hollow site. An atomistic thermodynamics approach suggests that at room temperature under UHV conditions, coadsorbed hydrogen has recombined as H(2) and desorbed from the surface.

2-amino-1-propanol versus 1-amino-2-propanol: valence band and C 1s core-level photoelectron spectra.

Valence band and C 1s core-level photoelectron spectra of S-(+)-2-amino-1-propanol (alaninol) and S-(+)-1-amino-2-propanol (isopropanolamine) have been studied by means of synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy in gas phase. The alaninol, the reduced derivative of the alanine, is a good test system of amino acid-like structures. The isopropanolamine, presenting the inversion of the two functional groups of the alaninol at the chiral carbon, offers the opportunity to study the effect of -OH and -NH(2) structural position on the photoelectron spectra. The influence of the conformational contribution on the electronic structure and the photoelectron spectra has been interpreted using density functional and ab initio theoretical calculations. Agreement has been achieved by taking into account the presence, in gas phase, of two conformers with different population ratios in both chiral systems. The C 1s core-level spectra of alaninol and isopropanolamine are reported and the peak positions of the three carbon atoms of the molecules are assigned.