INFRARED STUDIES OF THE INTERACTION OF METHANOL WITH CU-N, AG-N, AND AU-N

Methanol (Me) adsorbs intact on copper, silver, and gold clusters at 7 0 K to form thp complexes CunMem, AgnMem, and AunMem, respectively. Th e infrared photodissociation spectra of the deuterium-substituted comp lexes M-n(CD3OH)(m) and M-n(CD3OD)(m) (M-n = Cu3-11, Ag3-22, and Au3-1 3) have been recorded in the 9-11 mu m region. The methanol C-O stretc hing band frequency is invariant with cluster size and depends only sl ightly on the metal of which the underlying cluster is composed, indic ating that local interactions are responsible for the shift from the g as-phase value and that these interactions are similar for methanol ad sorbed on clusters of all three metals. Progressive blue shifts of the depletion bands of AgnMem and AunMem with increasing m indicate a str ong interaction among methanol ligands in these species.