Differential reactivity of nitro-substituted monolayers to electron beam and X-ray irradiation

The differential reactivity of nitro-substituted monolayers to electron beam and X-ray irradiation was discussed. A synchrotron radiation source was utilized for the photoinduced chemical transformation and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the molecular layers. Nitro groups were selectively reduced to amine groups by irradiation of nitrophenylimine containing self-assembled monolayers (SAM) with low energy electrons. There was no noticeable change in other parts of the monolayers in these reduction reactions.