Temperature-programmed
reaction spectroscopy (TPRS) and reflection
absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) were used to study the adsorption
and hydrogenation of acrolein on Ru(001). At low coverages, acrolein
adsorbs on the surface at 90 K mostly via the CO bond and
completely decomposes to CO around 460 K. As the coverage increases,
adsorption via the CC bond predominates and most of the acrolein
either desorbs molecularly or decomposes to CO and H<sub>2</sub>.
However, a small amount of the acrolein also self-hydrogenates to
yield all the possible hydrogenation products, propanal, 2-propenol,
and 1-propanol, with TPRS peak temperatures of 180, 210, and 280 K
respectively, with propanal having the highest yield. Co-adsorption
with hydrogen enhances the adsorption via the CC bond and
the yield of all the hydrogenation products. The formation of propanal
and 1-propanol was also confirmed by RAIRS to occur at approximately
the same temperatures as observed with TPRS, with the intensity of
the RAIRS peaks indicating that the extent of hydrogenation is significantly
higher than the yields obtained from TPRS
