Adsorption and Chemical Modification of Phenols on a Silver Surface

The adsorption of phenols of different natures on silver colloidal particles is studied here by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The studied compounds can be classified in three groups: (a) cinnamic acic derivatives: caffeic and isoferulic acids; (b) catechol; and (c) the phenols derived from benzoic acid: m- and p-hydroxybenzoic acids and salicylic, vanillic, and gallic acids. The interest of these compounds lies in the fact that they are naturally occurring molecules with significant importance in relation to plant metabolism, soil chemistry, and vegetal food stability. In addition, many of these compounds have antioxidant properties derived from their high affinity toward atmospheric oxygen. They exhibit high reactivity that may be enhanced in the presence of a metal surface such as those employed for SERS spectroscopy. From the SERS results it can be deduced that a clear chemical change of caffeic and gallic acid and catechol occurred. The chemical modification consists mainly of polymerization connected to existence in the molecule of o-diphenol moieties. In the case of m-hydroxybenzoic acid the chemical change may occur at low pH at which a reorientation of the molecule on the surface takes place, while in the o-hydroxybenzoic acid the only chemical change seems to be the internal H bond breakdown induced by the complexation with the metal. Finally, isoferulic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids do not show any chemical modification upon adsorption on the metal, which takes place through the carboxylate group adopting the molecule a standing up orientation. The case of vanillic acid is not so clear, although possible chemical modification is also possible for this adsorbate. From the results found in this work it can be inferred that the factors influencing possible chemical modification are the chemical structure of the adsorbate and its orientation and interaction with the surface. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.