Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57418-0, published online 27 February 2025

In the version of the article initially published, Fig. 5 contained a plotting error. While the activation energy labels were correct, the lines showing the reaction path were plotted incorrectly for the decomposition of the OMC into AcH and EO. This error resulted in corresponding errors in the main text. In the second paragraph of the “Theoretical simulations” section, in the sentence now reading “Once the OMC forms (state 5 in the figure), decomposition into AcH has a lower Ea (1.0 eV) via state 8 in the figure than into EO (1.5 eV) via state 6 in the figure,” the units 1.0 eV and 1.5 eV replace the original “0.6 eV” and “1.2 eV.” In the third paragraph of this section, in the text now reading “From Fig. 5, the apparent activation energy for AcH (EO) formation on the pristine oxide can be seen to be 1.4 eV (1.9 eV),” 1.4 eV replaces the original “1.3 eV.” In the sixth paragraph of this section, in the text now reading “We also considered the metallic surface (Fig. S13), which is characterized by similar Ea’s as on the oxide surface. OMC formation has an Ea of 0.6 eV, which can decompose into EO (AcH) with an Ea of 1.1 eV (1.3 eV)…,” 1.3 eV replaces the original “1.2 eV.” The figure and text have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article. The conclusions of the manuscript remain unchanged.