Unravelling Reaction Products of Styrene Oxide Adsorbed on Ag(111) Using REMPI-Assisted Temperature Programmed Desorption

Adsorption of styrene oxide on Ag(111) at 200 K leads to the formation of a stable oxametallacycle by ring-opening of the epoxide. At elevated temperatures, the oxametallacycle reacts and the products desorb from the surface. We employ resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (REMPI-ToF-MS) to identify reaction products after desorption. We assign phenylacetaldehyde as the only product that desorbs at temperatures around 485 K.