The interactions of vapor-deposited methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-hexanol with an 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (HOOC(CH2)10SH) self-assembled monolayer adsorbed on a nickel(111) single
crystal were studied in ultrahigh vacuum by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The peak shapes of the TPD spectra for methanol, ethanol, and propanol
desorption are similar, suggesting that these alcohols undergo similar desorption processes. Their peak
desorption temperatures at the lowest submonolayer fluences increased with the number of carbons in
the alcohol, suggesting that the methyl and methylene groups, as well as the hydroxyl group, participate
in the adsorbed alcohol monolayer's interactions at the acid-terminated self-assembled monolayer surface.
Threshold TPD (TTPD) was used for a quantitative analysis of the desorption spectra as a function of
coverage. The structure and behavior of hexanol's desorption spectra suggest a different desorption process
than its lower-molecular-weight analogues. Of all the alcohols studied, hexanol exhibited the strongest
interaction with the acid-terminated surface. The desorption energies calculated by the TTPD method for
the straight-chain n-alcohols C1−C3 (15−20 kJ mol-1) and C6 (∼38 kJ mol-1) in the submonolayer regime
were in the range expected (10−40 kJ mol-1) for hydrogen bonding.