The electron stimulated chemistry of methyl lactate on Cu(1 1 1)

The electron stimulated chemistry of monolayers of (R)/(S)-methyl lactate ((S)/(R)-MLAc) adsorbed on Cu(1 1 1) has been investigated. Monolayers of MLAc undergo highly efficient electron stimulated processes predominately desorption, but also a significant fraction is converted to an adsorbed alkoxide moiety through the selective cleavage of the O–H bond. The efficiency of the depletion of the adsorbed MLAc state and the absence of significant non-selective fragmentation contrasts with previous studies of the electron beam irradiation of monolayers of oxygen containing organic molecules.