Photochemistry of adsorbed molecules. XI. Charge‐transfer photodissociation and photoreaction in chloromethanes on Ag(111)

Reaction Cycles of Halogen Species in the Immune Defense: Implications for Human Health and Diseases and the Pathology and Treatment of COVID-19

There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19, which is causing a global pandemic. One current focus is drug repurposing research, but those drugs have limited therapeutic efficacies and known adverse effects. The pathology of COVID-19 is essentially unknown. Without this understanding, it is challenging to discover a successful treatment to be approved for clinical use. This paper addresses several key biological processes of reactive oxygen, halogen and nitrogen species (ROS, RHS and RNS) that play crucial physiological roles in organisms from plants to humans. These include why superoxide dismutases, the enzymes to catalyze the formation of H₂O₂, are required for protecting ROS-induced injury in cell metabolism, why the amount of ROS/RNS produced by ionizing radiation at clinically relevant doses is ~1000 fold lower than the endogenous ROS/RNS level routinely produced in the cell and why a low level of endogenous RHS plays a crucial role in phagocytosis for immune defense. Herein we propose a plausible amplification mechanism in immune defense: ozone-depleting-like halogen cyclic reactions enhancing RHS effects are responsible for all the mentioned physiological functions, which are activated by H₂O₂ and deactivated by NO signaling molecule. Our results show that the reaction cycles can be repeated thousands of times and amplify the RHS pathogen-killing (defense) effects by 100,000 fold in phagocytosis, resembling the cyclic ozone-depleting reactions in the stratosphere. It is unraveled that H₂O₂ is a required protective signaling molecule (angel) in the defense system for human health and its dysfunction can cause many diseases or conditions such as autoimmune disorders, aging and cancer. We also identify a class of potent drugs for effective treatment of invading pathogens such as HIV and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), cancer and other diseases, and provide a molecular mechanism of action of the drugs or candidates.

Direct Pathway to Molecular Photodissociation on Metal Surfaces Using Visible Light

We demonstrate molecular photodissociation on single-crystalline metal substrates, driven by visible-light irradiation. The visible-light-induced photodissociation on metal substrates has long been thought to never occur, either because visible-light energy is much smaller than the optical energy gap between the frontier electronic states of the molecule or because the molecular excited states have short lifetimes due to the strong hybridization between the adsorbate molecular orbitals (MOs) and metal substrate. The S-S bond in dimethyl disulfide adsorbed on both Cu(111) and Ag(111) surfaces was dissociated through direct electronic excitation from the HOMO-derived MO (the nonbonding lone-pair type orbitals on the S atoms (n_S)) to the LUMO-derived MO (the antibonding orbital localized on the S-S bond (σ*_SS)) by irradiation with visible light. A combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations revealed that visible-light-induced photodissociation becomes possible due to the interfacial electronic structures constructed by the hybridization between molecular orbitals and the metal substrate states. The molecule-metal hybridization decreases the gap between the HOMO- and LUMO-derived MOs into the visible-light energy region and forms LUMO-derived MOs that have less overlap with the metal substrate, which results in longer excited-state lifetimes.

Size-dependent surface reactions of Ag nanoparticles supported on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Various sizes of Ag particles were grown on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces, which had previously been modified with nanopits to act as anchoring sites. Surface reactions of O2, CHCl3, and CCl4 on the Ag particles and bulk Ag(111) surfaces were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and it has been shown that size dependence of O2 and CHCl3 reactions on Ag differs from that of CCl4. Weak reactions of O2 and CHCl3 were observed on the bulk Ag(111) surfaces, while strong reactions occur on Ag particles with medium Ag coverage, suggesting that the reactions are controlled by the number of surface defect sites. On the contrary, the dissociation of CCl4 is mainly determined by the exposed Ag facet area, mainly Ag(111) facet, and strong dissociation reaction happens on the bulk Ag(111) surface. The results suggest that the size effects, which are often discussed in heterogeneous catalysis, are strongly dependent on the reaction mechanism.

Electron stimulated reactions of methyl iodide coadsorbed with amorphous solid water

The electron stimulated reactions of methyl iodide (MeI) adsorbed on and suspended within amorphous solid water (ice) were studied using a combination of postirradiation temperature programmed desorption and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy. For MeI adsorbed on top of amorphous solid water (ice), electron beam irradiation is responsible for both structural and chemical transformations within the overlayer. Electron stimulated reactions of MeI result principally in the formation of methyl radicals and solvated iodide anions. The cross section for electron stimulated decomposition of MeI is comparable to the gas phase value and is only weakly dependent upon the local environment. For both adsorbed MeI and suspended MeI, reactions of methyl radicals within MeI clusters lead to the formation of ethane, ethyl iodide, and diiodomethane. In contrast, reactions between the products of methyl iodide and water dissociation are responsible for the formation of methanol and carbon dioxide. Methane, formed as a result of reactions between methyl radicals and either parent MeI molecules or hydrogen atoms, is also observed. The product distribution is found to depend on the film's initial chemical composition as well as the electron fluence. Results from this study highlight the similarities in the carbon-containing products formed when monohalomethanes coadsorbed with amorphous solid water are irradiated by either electrons or photons.

Developing 1D nanostructure arrays for future nanophotonics

There is intense and growing interest in one-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures from the perspective of their synthesis and unique properties, especially with respect to their excellent optical response and an ability to form heterostructures. This review discusses alternative approaches to preparation and organization of such structures, and their potential properties. In particular, molecular-scale printing is highlighted as a method for creating organized pre-cursor structure for locating nanowires, as well as vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) templated growth using nano-channel alumina (NCA), and deposition of 1-D structures with glancing angle deposition (GLAD). As regards novel optical properties, we discuss as an example, finite size photonic crystal cavity structures formed from such nanostructure arrays possessing highQand small mode volume, and being ideal for developing future nanolasers.

Photochemistry of Vinyl Chloride Physisorbed on Ag(111) through Molecular Anion Formation Induced by Substrate Electron Attachment

Pulsed 266 and 355 nm ultraviolet laser irradiation of monolayer vinyl chloride physisorbed on Ag(111) results in molecular dissociation leading to C2H3 and Cl, much of which is adsorbed to the surface. On the basis of observations made on dissociation dependences on chlorine isotope and photon energy, it is deduced that upon excitation vinyl chloride forms a transient negative ion through a substrate mediated, vertical electron attachment mechanism. The anion either dissociates or relaxes through energy transfer to the neutral state causing the neutral molecule to desorb. The threshold for vertical attachment of substrate electron is estimated to be 0.8 eV below the vacuum level, in agreement with the experimentally observed wavelength dependence in photoinduced dissociation. Chemisorbed Cl on the Ag(111) surface inhibits the photodissociation process by increasing the substrate work function and consequently the energy threshold for electron vertical attachment. Upon heating the Ag(111) surface, adsorbed vinyl combines to produce 1,3-butadiene in a first order, diffusion limited, process with an activation energy of 10.4 kcal/mol.

Interfacial electron dynamics and hot-electron-driven surface photochemistry of carbon tetrachloride on Ag(111)

We used time-resolved two-photon photoemission (2PPE) spectroscopy to investigate the photochemical behavior, the interfacial electronic structure, and the fate of photogenerated hot electron for carbon tetrachloride adsorbed on Ag(111). The photodissociation cross section was determined over a wide range of photon energy from 1.62 to 5.69 eV, which suggested a low-lying electron affinity level of adsorbed CCl4. A CCl4-derived unoccupied state located at 3.41 eV above the Fermi level was attributed to an image potential (IP) state based on its binding energy and effective mass. Polarization dependence of the 2PPE signal revealed that the IP state was populated by an indirect excitation process involving scattering of photoexcited hot electrons rather than direct electronic transition from a bulk band. The lifetime of the IP state was much shorter on the CCl4-covered Ag(111) surface than on the clean one, implying that the electron in the IP state is scavenged effectively by CCl4, probably through dissociative attachment to it. These results are significant in the sense that they provide dynamical evidence for a new relaxation pathway of the IP state in addition to the more common pathway involving back transfer of electron to the substrate.

Enhancements in dissociative electron attachment to CF4, chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons adsorbed on H2O ice

We report that the absolute cross sections for dissociative attachment of approximately 0 eV electrons to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are strongly enhanced by the presence of H2O ice. The absolute cross sections for CFCl3, CHF2Cl, and CH3CF2Cl on water ice are measured to be approximately 8.9 x 10(-14), approximately 5.1 x 10(-15), and approximately 4.9 x 10(-15) cm2 at approximately 0 eV, respectively. The former value is about 1 order of magnitude higher than that in the gas phase, while the latter two are 3-4 orders higher. In contrast, the resonances at electron energies > or = 2.0 eV are strongly suppressed either for CFCs and HCFCs or for CF4 adsorbed on H2O ice. The cross-section enhancement is interpreted to be due to electron transfer from precursor states of the solvated electron in ice to an unfilled molecular orbital of CFCs or HCFCs followed by its dissociation. This study indicates that electron-induced dissociation is a significant process leading to CFC and HCFC fragmentation on ice surfaces.

Kinetics of electron-induced decomposition of CF[sub 2]Cl[sub 2] coadsorbed with water (ice): A comparison with CCl[sub 4]

The kinetics of decomposition and subsequent chemistry of adsorbed CF(2)Cl(2), activated by low-energy electron irradiation, have been examined and compared with CCl(4). These molecules have been adsorbed alone and coadsorbed with water ice films of different thicknesses on metal surfaces (Ru; Au) at low temperatures (25 K; 100 K). The studies have been performed with temperature programmed desorption (TPD), reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). TPD data reveal the efficient decomposition of both halocarbon molecules under electron bombardment, which proceeds via dissociative electron attachment (DEA) of low-energy secondary electrons. The rates of CF(2)Cl(2) and CCl(4) dissociation increase in an H(2)O (D(2)O) environment (2-3x), but the increase is smaller than that reported in recent literature. The highest initial cross sections for halocarbon decomposition coadsorbed with H(2)O, using 180 eV incident electrons, are measured (using TPD) to be 1.0+/-0.2 x 10(-15) cm(2) for CF(2)Cl(2) and 2.5+/-0.2 x 10(-15) cm(2) for CCl(4). RAIRS and XPS studies confirm the decomposition of halocarbon molecules codeposited with water molecules, and provide insights into the irradiation products. Electron-induced generation of Cl(-) and F(-) anions in the halocarbon/water films and production of H(3)O(+), CO(2), and intermediate compounds COF(2) (for CF(2)Cl(2)) and COCl(2), C(2)Cl(4) (for CCl(4)) under electron irradiation have been detected using XPS, TPD, and RAIRS. The products and the decomposition kinetics are similar to those observed in our recent experiments involving x-ray photons as the source of ionizing irradiation.