The adsorption and stability of sulfur containing amino acids on Cu{5 3 1}

The adsorption of l-cysteine and l-methionine amino acids on a chiral Cu{5 3 1} surface was investigated with high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and carbon K-edge near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) Spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. XPS shows that at 300 K l-cysteine adsorbs through two oxygen, a nitrogen and a sulfur atom, in a four point ‘quadrangular footprint’, whereas l-methionine adsorbs through only two oxygen and a nitrogen atom in a ‘triangular footprint’. NEXAFS was used to clarify the adsorption geometry of both molecules, which suggests a binding orientation to the top layer and second layer atoms in two different orientations associated with adsorption sites on {1 1 0} and {3 1 1} microfacets of the Cu{5 3 1} surface.