title: In situ identification of intermediates of benzyl chloride reduction at a silver electrode by SERS coupled with DFT calculations.
abstract: Aiming to deeply understand the electrocatalytic mechanism of silver on reduction of benzyl chloride, we carried out an in situ electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic study to characterize various surface species in different electrode potential regions. A further analysis with DFT calculation reveals that the benzyl radical and its anionic derivate bonded on a silver electrode are the key intermediates, implying that the pathway could drastically differ from the outer sphere concerted electron reduction at inert electrodes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yi-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ujjal Kumar
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Sur
authors.forename: De-Yin
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rondinini
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amatore
authors.forename: Zhong-Qun
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D001593:Benzyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D004566:Electrodes; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D001593:Benzyl Compounds; D012834:Silver; C021292:benzyl chloride