title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Haiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kangjian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 12180, USA.
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 12180, USA.
authors.forename: Liangbo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kewei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Haiming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 12180, USA.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Meunier
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Youyong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China. liqing@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based, Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China. chilf@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lifeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chi
keywords: dealkylation; density functional theory; on-surface reactions; scanning tunneling microscopy; surface chemistry