An infrared study on the chemisorption of tertiary phosphines on coinage and platinum group metal surfaces

Abstract The chemisorption of dimethylphenyl-, methyldiphenyl- and triphenylphosphine on evaporated gold, silver, copper, rhodium, iridium, palladium, platinum and nickel surfaces has been studied by means of infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy (IRAS). Multilayers of physisorbed phosphine are formed on the surfaces of all metals studied except nickel after deposition from dilute toluene solution. The deposition rate varies for different metal surfaces and it is sometimes quite slow. The standard immersion time was 20 h in this study to secure that an equilibrium between the surface and the solution is reached. Several minutes of ultrasonic treatment are required to get rid of the physisorbed phosphine, leaving a very thin layer of chemisorbed phosphine on the metal surface. Most of the absorption bands in IRAS spectra of these thin layers show significant shifts, which are especially large for dimethylphenylphosphine. It is evident that the electron distribution in the entire phosphine molecules is changed and that the chemisorption to the coinage and platinum group metal surfaces is strong. Infrared spectra of coordination compounds of gold(I), silver(I) and copper(I) with dimethylphenyl-, methyldiphenyl- and triphenylphosphine and of the corresponding phosphine oxides have served as reference material for the chemisorbed phosphines. The spectra of the coordination compounds show similar shifts and intensity changes as the IRAS spectra of tertiary phosphines chemisorbed on the coinage and platinum group metals. This suggests that the studied phosphines are as strongly bound to the coinage and platinum group metal surfaces as to the monovalent coinage metal ions known to form very stable complexes with tertiary phosphines.