The Adsorption of Cyclopropane and Cyclohexane on Cu(111): An Experimental and Theoretical Investigation on the Nature of the CH−Metal Interaction

On contact with transition metals, saturated hydrocarbons reveal pronounced red shifts in the C−H stretching region in their IR spectra (shaded region in picture), which are discussed in connection with C−H activation. Detailed ab initio calculations for cyclopropane and cyclohexane on a Cu surface suggest that this anomaly is caused by an unexpected chemical interaction.