Vibrational study of the salicylate interaction with metallic ions and surfaces

Infrared and Raman spectroscopy are used in this work to study the metallic complexes of salicylic acid with silver and copper, comparing the interaction between salicylate and the cations (Ag+ and Cu2+) in the metal complexes with the SERS spectra when adsorbed on colloidal metal surfaces of the same metals. The salicylate complexes with the above metals were compared to those of Na+, Fe3+ and Al3+ cations. A different interaction mechanism is deduced for salicylate in the metal complex and when adsorbed on the metal surface.