Ligation
and decomposition of 1,6-hexanedithiol on copper clusters
have been studied by means of temperature-programmed desorption (TPD)
and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Copper cluster anions
were first made via magnetron sputtering, then size selected and soft
landed into a frozen matrix of 1,6-hexandithiol on highly ordered
pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) maintained at 100 K. After warming up to
298 K, a combination of TPD and XPS were performed to characterize
the newly deposited sample. TPD data shed light upon the adsorption
and decomposition pathways of 1,6-hexanedithiol molecules on copper
clusters. Based on the TPD data, two different binding motifs are
proposed: the dangling motif is with one sulfur atom binding to a
copper cluster, and the bidentate motif is with both sulfur atoms
binding to a copper cluster. Different decomposition products were
observed for each binding motif. A series of hydrogen atom titration
experiments were designed to provide further evidence for the proposed
decomposition mechanism. XPS measurements at varied temperatures agree
well with the TPD profile by confirming the formation of dithiol ligated
copper clusters through Cu–S bond formation, and the decomposition
of them via C–S bond scission. How well the dithiol ligand
can protect the copper clusters from being oxidized is discussed,
and the ligand number per cluster is estimated.