Real-Space Observation of Quantum Tunneling by a Carbon Atom: Flipping Reaction 
of Formaldehyde on Cu(110)

Lin, Chenfang; Durant, Emile; Persson, Mats; Rossi, Mariana; Kumagai, Takashi

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03806

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

Real-Space Observation of Quantum Tunneling by a Carbon Atom: Flipping Reaction of Formaldehyde on Cu(110)

MPS-Authors

/persons/resource/persons213546

Lin, Chenfang
Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons21421

Rossi, Mariana
Theory, Fritz Haber Institute, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons32784

Kumagai, Takashi
Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute, Max Planck Society;
JST-PRESTO;

External Resource

No external resources are shared

Fulltext (restricted access)

There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.

Fulltext (public)

acs.jpclett.8b03806.pdf
(Publisher version), 2MB

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Lin, C., Durant, E., Persson, M., Rossi, M., & Kumagai, T. (2019). Real-Space Observation of Quantum Tunneling by a Carbon Atom: Flipping Reaction of Formaldehyde on Cu(110). The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 10(3), 645-649. doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03806.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0002-EE17-9

Abstract

We present a direct observation of carbon-atom tunneling in the flipping reaction of formaldehyde between its two mirror-reflected states on a Cu(110) surface using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The flipping reaction was monitored in real time, and the reaction rate was found to be temperature independent below 10 K. This indicates that this reaction is governed by quantum mechanical tunneling, albeit involving a substantial motion of the carbon atom (∼1 Å). In addition, deuteration of the formaldehyde molecule resulted in a significant kinetic isotope effect (R_CH_₂_O/R_CD_₂_O ≈ 10). The adsorption structure, reaction pathway, and tunneling probability were examined by density functional theory calculations, which corroborate the experimental observations.