Reaction of imidazole in gas phase at very low pressure with Cu foil and Cu oxides studied by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The gas‐phase reactions of imidazole with Cu foil, CuO and Cu 2 O powders at a pressure of 10 −5 Torr are studied by means of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at room temperature for 1 h. The reactivity of gaseous imidazole is very intense with Cu foil, weak with CuO and nil with Cu 2 O. The reaction product on the Cu foil is cuprous imidazolate of oligomeric nature and with CuO is cupric imidazolate of very low molecular weight.