Catalytic Dealkylation of Ethers to Alcohols on Metal Surfaces
Abstract
On‐surface synthesis has prompted much interest in recent years because it provides an alternative strategy for controlling chemical reactions and allows for the direct observation of reaction pathways. Herein, we combined scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory to provide extensive evidence for the conversion of alkoxybenzene‐containing ethers into alcohols by means of surface synthesis. The reported dealkylation reactions are finely controlled by the annealing parameters, which govern the onset of successive alkyl chains dissociations. Moreover, density functional theory calculations elucidate the details of the reaction pathways, showing that dealkylation reactions are surface‐assisted and very different from their homogeneous analogues in solution.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 19, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1002/anie.201602414
Entities
People
- Biao Yang
- Haiming Zhang
- Haiping Lin
- Jian Fan
- Kangjian Miao
- Kewei Sun
- Liangbo Liang
- Lifeng Chi
- Pan Zhu
- Qing Li
- Vincent Meunier
- Youyong Li
Organizations
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
- Office of Naval Research
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute