Hydrogen bonding between water and methanol studied by temperature-programmed time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Hydrogen Exchange through Hydrogen Bonding between Methanol and Water in the Adsorbed State on Cu(111)

The interaction between submonolayers of methanol and water on Cu(111) is studied at 95-160 K temperature range with surface-sensitive infrared spectroscopy using isotopically labeled molecules. The initial interaction of methanol with the preadsorbed amorphous solid water at 95 K is through hydrogen-bonding with the dangling hydroxyl groups of water. Upon increasing the temperature up to 140 K, methanol and deuterated water form H-bonded structures which allow hydrogen-deuterium exchange between the hydroxyl group of methanol and the deuterated water. The evolution of the O-D and O-H stretching bands indicate that the hydrogen transfer is dominant at around 120-130 K, slightly below the desorption temperature of methanol. Above 140 K, methanol desorbs and a mixture of hydrogen-related water isotopologues remains on the surface. The isotopic composition of this mixture versus the initial D₂O:CH₃OH ratio supports a potential exchange mechanism via hydrogen hopping between alternating methanol and water molecules in a hydrogen-bonded network.

Relationship between CH3OD Abundance and Temperature in the Orion KL Nebula

The relative abundances of singly deuterated methanol isotopologues, [CH₂DOH]/[CH₃OD], in star-forming regions deviate from the statistically expected ratio of 3. In Orion KL, the nearest high-mass star-forming region to Earth, the singly deuterated methanol ratio is about 1, and the cause for this observation has been explored through theory for nearly three decades. We present high-angular resolution observations of Orion KL using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to map small-scale changes in CH₃OD column density across the nebula, which provide a new avenue to examine the deuterium chemistry during star and planet formation. By considering how CH₃OD column densities vary with temperature, we find evidence of chemical processes that can significantly alter the observed gas-phase column densities. The astronomical data are compared with existing theoretical work and support D–H exchange between CH₃OH and heavy water (i.e., HDO and D₂O) at methanol’s hydroxyl site in the icy mantles of dust grains. The enhanced CH₃OD column densities are localized to the Hot Core-SW region, a pattern that may be linked to the coupled evolution of ice mantle chemistry and star formation in giant molecular clouds. This work provides new perspectives on deuterated methanol chemistry in Orion KL and informs considerations that may guide future theoretical, experimental, and observational work.

A temperature programmed desorption study of interactions between water and hydrophobes at cryogenic temperatures

It is considered that hydrophobic solutes dissolve in water via the formation of icelike cages in the first hydration shell. However, this conventional picture is currently under debate. We have investigated how hydrophobic species, such as D₂, Ne, Ar, Xe, CH₄, and C₃H₈, interact with water in composite films of amorphous solid water (ASW) based on temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The D₂ and Ne species tend to be incorporated in ASW without being caged, whereas two distinct peaks assignable to the caged species are identifiable for the other solutes examined here. The low-temperature peak is observed preferentially for Ar and CH₄ prior to crystallization. The hydrophobes are thought to be encapsulated in porous ASW films via reorganization of the hydrogen bond network up to 100 K; most of them are released in a liquidlike phase that occurs immediately before crystallization at ca. 160 K. The nature of hydrophobic hydration at cryogenic temperature appears to differ from that in normal water at room temperature because the former resembles crystalline ices in the local hydrogen-bond structure rather than the latter. No ordered structures assignable to clathrate hydrates were identified before and after crystallization.

Water coordinated on Cu(I)-based catalysts is the oxygen source in CO2 reduction to CO

Catalytic reduction of CO₂ over Cu-based catalysts can produce various carbon-based products such as the critical intermediate CO, yet significant challenges remain in shedding light on the underlying mechanisms. Here, we develop a modified triple-stage quadrupole mass spectrometer to monitor the reduction of CO₂ to CO in the gas phase online. Our experimental observations reveal that the coordinated H₂O on Cu(I)-based catalysts promotes CO₂ adsorption and reduction to CO, and the resulting efficiencies are two orders of magnitude higher than those without H₂O. Isotope-labeling studies render compelling evidence that the O atom in produced CO originates from the coordinated H₂O on catalysts, rather than CO₂ itself. Combining experimental observations and computational calculations with density functional theory, we propose a detailed reaction mechanism of CO₂ reduction to CO over Cu(I)-based catalysts with coordinated H₂O. This study offers an effective method to reveal the vital roles of H₂O in promoting metal catalysts to CO₂ reduction.

Understanding the underlying mechanisms for catalytic reduction of CO₂ over Cu based catalysts remains challenging. Here, the authors develop an effective method to reveal the vital roles of H₂O in promoting metal catalysts to CO₂ reduction via a modified triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometer.

Competitive Interactions Within Cm(III) Solvation in Binary Water/Methanol Solutions

Competitive forces exist in multicomponent solutions, and within electrolytes they consist of both ion-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions. These can influence a myriad of processes, including ligand complexation. In the case of water/alcohol solutions, recent work revealed an interesting dilemma regarding the overall solution dynamics and organization as compared to solute-solvent interactions. This is particularly true for highly charged ions in solution, whose ion-solvent interactions were demonstrated to be highly sensitive to the composition of the immediate solvation environment. Faster solvent exchange should be observed about the ion, considering that second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory predicts an average decrease in ion-solvent dissociation energy when methanol enters the first solvation shell of Cm³⁺_(aq). Yet the addition of methanol to water causes the dynamic features of the hydrogen-bond network of the entire solution to slow. The apparent competition between these contrary forces was examined using a combination of electronic structure calculations with both ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations, using binary water/methanol solutions and Cm³⁺ as a representative solute. This combination of theoretical methods predicts that, among the competitive effects of the solvent-solvent and ion-solvent interactions, the solution-phase dynamics imparted by the addition of methanol to water kinetically restricts the solvation exchange rates about Cm³⁺ in these binary solutions.

Interactions of methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol with polar and nonpolar species in water at cryogenic temperatures

Methanol is known as a strong inhibitor of hydrate formation, but clathrate hydrates of ethanol and 1-propanol can be formed in the presence of help gases. To elucidate the hydrophilic and hydrophobic effects of alcohols, their interactions with simple solute species are investigated in glassy, liquid, and crystalline water using temperature-programmed desorption and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Nonpolar solute species embedded underneath amorphous solid water films are released during crystallization, but they tend to withstand water crystallization under the coexistence of methanol additives. The CO₂ additives are released after crystallization along with methanol desorption. These results suggest strongly that nonpolar species that are hydrated (i.e., caged) associatively with methanol can withstand water crystallization. In contrast, ethanol and 1-propanol additives weakly affect the dehydration of nonpolar species during water crystallization, suggesting that the former tend to be caged separately from the latter. The hydrophilic vs. hydrophobic behavior of alcohols, which differs according to the aliphatic group length, also manifests itself in the different abilities of surface segregation of alcohols and their effects on the water crystallization kinetics.

Using the C-O stretch to unravel the nature of hydrogen bonding in low-temperature solid methanol-water condensates

Transmission infrared spectroscopy has been used in a systematic laboratory study to investigate hydrogen bonding in binary mixtures of CH3OH and H2O, vapour deposited at 30 K, as a function of CH3OH/H2O mixing ratio, R. Strong intermolecular interactions are evident between CH3OH and H2O with infrared band profiles of the binary ices differing from that of the pure components and changing significantly with R. Consistent evidence from the O-H and C-H band profiles and detailed analysis of the C-O stretch band reveal two different hydrogen bonding structural regimes below and above R = 0.6-0.7. The vapour deposited solid mixtures were found to exhibit behaviour similar to that of liquids with evidence of inhomogeneity and higher coordination number of hydrogen bonds that are concentration dependent. The C-O stretch band is found to consist of three components around 1039 cm(-1) ('blue'), 1027 cm(-1) ('middle') and 1011 cm(-1) ('red'). The 'blue' and 'middle' components corresponding to environments with CH3OH dominating as a proton donor (PD) and proton acceptor (PA) respectively reveal preferential bonding of CH3OH as a PA and H2O as a PD in the mixtures. The 'red' component is only present in the presence of H2O and has been assigned to the involvement of both lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom of CH3OH as a PA to two PD H2O atoms. Cooperative effects are evident with concurrent blue-shifts in the C-H stretching modes of CH3OH below R = 0.6 indicating CH3 group participation in hydrogen bonding.

Development of ultralow energy (1-10 eV) ion scattering spectrometry coupled with reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption for the investigation of molecular solids

Extremely surface specific information, limited to the first atomic layer of molecular surfaces, is essential to understand the chemistry and physics in upper atmospheric and interstellar environments. Ultra low energy ion scattering in the 1-10 eV window with mass selected ions can reveal extremely surface specific information which when coupled with reflection absorption infrared (RAIR) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) spectroscopies, diverse chemical and physical properties of molecular species at surfaces could be derived. These experiments have to be performed at cryogenic temperatures and at ultra high vacuum conditions without the possibility of collisions of neutrals and background deposition in view of the poor ion intensities and consequent need for longer exposure times. Here we combine a highly optimized low energy ion optical system designed for such studies coupled with RAIR and TPD and its initial characterization. Despite the ultralow collision energies and long ion path lengths employed, the ion intensities at 1 eV have been significant to collect a scattered ion spectrum of 1000 counts/s for mass selected CH2(+).

Probing Surface Properties and Glass−Liquid Transition of Amorphous Solid Water: Temperature-Programmed TOF-SIMS and TPD Studies of Adsorption/Desorption of Hexane

The interaction of hexane with amorphous solid water has been investigated in terms of the surface diffusion, hydrogen bond imperfections, hydrophobic hydration, crystallization, and glass-liquid transition. The hexane exhibits two main peaks in temperature-programmed desorption: one is ascribed to a complex formed at the surface or subsurface sites (135 K) and the other is caused by a bulk complex (165 K). The latter is associated with the presence of frozen-in imperfections in hydrogen bonds and formed provided that the annealing temperature of the film is below 130 K, whereas the former is created even when the film is annealed up to 150 K. Thus, the hexane-water interaction is hardly characterized by simple physisorption. The hexane is incorporated in the bulk during reorganization of hydrogen bonds due to rotational and translational diffusions of water molecules above 120-140 K, whereas the surface complex is formed even below 120 K due to the surface diffusion of molecules. The film undergoes abrupt dewetting at 165 K as a consequence of the glass-liquid transition. The slow evolution of the fluidity in the supercooled liquid phase may be responsible for the delay of the structural relaxation (165 K) relative to the onset of the translational molecular diffusion (135-140 K).

A temperature-programed time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy study of intermixing of amorphous ethanol and heavy-water films at 15–200 K

On the basis of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, the intermolecular interactions of amorphous ethanol and heavy-water films have been investigated in terms of the translational molecular diffusion, hydrogen-bond reorganization, and isotope scrambling. The morphology of the ethanol film (heavy-water film) changes at 120 K (165 K), and the isotope scrambling takes place between the ethanol and heavy-water molecules above 140 K. The intermixing of the layered binary films of ethanol and heavy water is induced at 120 K as a consequence of the increased mobility of the ethanol molecules but the mixing is incomplete at the molecular level. The complete mixing occurs above 140-150 K provided that the highly mobile water molecules emerge. It is concluded that the viscous liquid phase evolves above the conventional glass-transition temperatures (97 and 136 K for ethanol and heavy water, respectively), which is followed by the drastic morphological change (120 and 165 K) as a consequence of the increased fluidity of the films.

Liquid−Vapor Interface of Methanol−Water Mixtures: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to investigate the structural and thermodynamic properties and variations in the dipole moments of the liquid-vapor interfaces of methanol-water mixtures. Various methanol-water compositions were simulated at room temperature. We found that methanol tends to concentrate at the interface, and the computed surface tension shows a composition dependence that is consistent with experimental measurements. The methanol molecule shows preferred orientation near the interface with the methyl group pointing into the vapor phase. The methanol in the mixture is found to have larger dipole moments than that of pure liquid methanol. The strong local field induced by the surrounding water molecules is partly the reason for this difference. The dependence of hydrogen-bonding patterns between methanol and water on the interface and the composition of the mixture is also discussed in the paper.

Glass transition and intermixing of amorphous water and methanol

The diffusion of molecules in amorphous water and methanol films has been investigated on the basis of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry as a function of temperature. The glass-liquid transition of the amorphous water film occurs at 130-145 K as confirmed from the surface segregation of embedded methanol molecules. The morphology of the pure amorphous water film changes drastically at 160 K as a consequence of dewetting induced by the surface tension and the strongly decreased viscosity of the film. The morphology of the amorphous methanol film changes at 115 K following the self-diffusion onset at 80 K. The binary films of water and heavy methanol are intermixed completely at 136 K as evidenced by the occurrence of the H/D exchange.

Hydrophobic hydration of alkanes: Its implication for the property of amorphous solid water

We measured the incorporation of adsorbed alkanes in and their desorption from the amorphous solid water (ASW) by means of secondary ion mass spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption. The heavier alkanes such as butane and hexane are incorporated completely in the bulk of the nonporous ASW layer below 100 K probably due to the preferential formation of ice structures around the solute molecules. The self-diffusion of water molecules occurs above the glass transition temperature (136 K). The liquid water emerges above 165 K, as evidenced by simultaneous occurrence of the dehydration of alkanes and the morphological change of the water layer induced by the surface tension.

Interactions of D2O with methane and fluoromethane surfaces

TOF-SIMS is used to investigate the interactions between D2O and hydrophobic molecules, such as CH4, CH3F, CH2F2, CHF3, and CF4, at cryogenic temperatures (15 K). By irradiation with a 1.5-keV He+ beam, the D(+)(D2O)n ions are ejected efficiently from the D2O nanoclusters physisorbed on the CF4 layer due to Coulomb explosion: the ion yields are by about two orders of magnitude higher than those from a thick D2O layer via the kinetic sputtering. The D(+)(D2O)n yields decrease on the CHnF(4-n) layer with increasing the number of the C-H group. This is because the Coulombic fission is quenched due to the delocalization of valence holes through the C-H...H-C and C-H...D2O contacts. A pure D2O film is hardly grown on the CH4 layer as a consequence of intermixing whereas the D2O molecules basically adsorb on the surfaces of fluoromethanes, suggesting the attractive (water-repellent) interactions in the C-H...D2O (C-F...D2O) contacts. The C-H...O bond behaves like a conventional O-H...O hydrogen bond as far as the collision-induced proton transfer reaction is concerned.

Ionization and solvation of HCl adsorbed on the D[sub 2]O-ice surface

The interaction of HCl with the D(2)O-ice surface has been investigated in the temperature range 15-200 K by utilizing time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The intensities of sputtered H(+)(D(2)O) and Cl(-) ions (the H(+) ions) are increased (decreased) markedly above 40 K due to the hydrogen bond formation between the HCl and D(2)O molecules. The HCl molecules which form ionic hydrates undergo H/D exchange at 110-140 K and a considerable fraction of them dissolves into the bulk above 140 K. The neutral hydrates of HCl should coexist as evidenced by the desorption of HCl above 170 K. They are incorporated completely in the D(2)O layer up to 140 K. The HCl molecules embedded in the thick D(2)O layer dissolve into the bulk, and the ionic hydrate tends to segregate to the surface above 150 K.