Coordination of acetonitrile (CH3CN) to platinum (111): Evidence for an η2(C, N) species

Acetonitrile (CH3CN) coordination to a Pt(111) surface has been studied with electron energy loss vibrational spectroscopy (EELS), XPS, thermal desorption and work function measurements. We compare data for the surface states with known acetonitrile coordination complexes. For CH3CN adsorbed on Pt(111) at 100 K, the molecule is rehybridized and adsorbs with the CN bond parallel or slightly inclined to the surface plane in an η2(C, N) configuration. The ν(CN) frequency is 1615 cm−1 and the C ls and N ls binding energies are 284.6 eV and 397.2 eV respectively. By contrast, weakly adsorbed multilayer acetonitrile exhibits a ν(CN) vibrational frequency of 2270 cm−1, and C ls and N ls binding energies of 286.9 eV and 400.1 eV respectively. Both the EELS and XPS results are consistent with rehybridization of the CN triple bond to a double bond with both C and N atoms of the CN group attached to the surface. In addition to this majority η2(C, N) monolayer state, evidence is found for a second, more strongly bound minority molecular state in thermal desorption spectra. As a result of the low coverage of this state, EELS was unable to spectroscopically identify it and we tentatively assign it as an η4(C, N) species associated with accidental step sites. By contrast to the surface complexes, almost all of the known platinum-nitrile coordination complexes are end-bonded via the N lone-pair orbital. Several cases of side-on bonding are known, however, and we compare the results with the known complex Fe3(η2-NCCH3)(CO)9. The difference in the coordinative properties of a Pt(111) surface versus a single Pt atom must be due to the increased ability of multi-atom arrays to back-donate electrons into the π∗ system of acetonitrile. Previously published EELS and XPS results for monolayer acetonitrile on Ni(111) and polycrystalline films are almost identical to the present results on Pt(111). We believe that the monolayer of CH3CNNi(111) is also an η2(C, N) species, not an end-bonded species previously proposed by Friend, Muetterties and Gland.