Thermal chemistry of cis-1,2-dichloroethene on Pd(111).

The reaction of cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) on Pd(111) has been investigated by temperature-programmed desorption, laser-induced thermal desorption, Auger electron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy. Below 130 K, molecularcis-DCE aggregates, resulting in only about 30% of the molecules from exposures below saturation significantly interacting with the palladium surface. The decomposition of cis-DCE generates the observable species H2, HCl, and ethylidyne. A fraction of cis-DCE molecules lose both chlorine atoms and add hydrogen to form ethylidyne, which is stable on the surface between 250 and 370 K. Hydrogen is liberated at about 420 K from cis-DCE surface fragments that immediately combine with surface chlorine and desorb as HCl. The most intense HCl desorption occurs at about 575 K and is due to surface chlorine reacting with either subsurface hydrogen or hydrogen from the remaining surface alkyl fragments. No carbon-containing species desorb from the decomposition of cis-DCE.