Low-temperature exchange of hydrogen and deuterium between molecular ethanol and water on Au(111)

Proton transfer and hydrogen-bonding networks are critical in biochemical processes including protein folding and protein protein interactions. Surface science can simplify these complex systems by studying the exchange of hydrogen and deuterium atoms between molecules supported on surfaces. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) was used to show that the exchange of hydrogen and deuterium between co-adsorbed isotopologues of ethanol and water occurs readily at temperatures below 200 K on Au(111). Since Au(111) is an inert substrate that does not cause dissociation of water or ethanol at any temperature, the results herein suggest that Au(111) acts as a support to facilitate H/D exchange via hydrogen-bonded networks of molecular ethanol and water at low temperatures.