Decomposition of tartaric acid (TA, HO2CCH(OH)CH(OH)CO2H) and aspartic acid (Asp, HO2CCH(NH2)CH2CO2H) on Cu surfaces occur via a vacancy-mediated surface explosion mechanism with non-linear kinetics; re = ke θ (1-θ)2, where θ is the adsorbate coverage and (1-θ) is the vacancy coverage. During temperature programmed reaction experiments on naturally chiral Cu(hkl)R&S surfaces these kinetics, coupled with the chirality of the adsorbates, lead to highly enantiospecific decomposition rates. This work demonstrates that in the presence of a thermal molecular beam with a constant Asp flux, FAsp, the decomposition of Asp on Cu(111) occurs catalytically and in steady-state to turnover numbers &gt;40 without contamination or deactivation of the surface. Moreover, the decomposition rates at a given (T, FAsp) manifest the two different steady-states predicted by the non-linearity of the decomposition kinetics. The unusual ability to catalytically decompose Asp on Cu, coupled with the ability to distinguish between D- and 13C-L-Asp using mass spectrometry, opens an avenue for the future study of enantioselective catalysis on Cu(hkl)R&S surfaces.

Steady-state catalytic decomposition of aspartic acid on Cu(111)

2019 Spring National Meeting

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