The Contribution of Organometallic Chemistry and Homogeneous Catalysis to the Understanding of Surface Reactions

Abstract One of the major problems in the investigation of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions involves an understanding of the nature of molecular species and processes which are formed or take place, respectively, on the active sites of a catalytic surface. The nature of chemisorbed species has been indirectly investigated for a long time by the investigation of bulk properties l, although some spectroscopic methods 2 (such as IR and electronic spectroscopy, and more recently low energy electron diffraction, ESCA and AUGER spectroscopy, field emission and field ion microscopy, and mass spectrometry of the field desorbed products) have been used to investigate the chemisorbed species or even some intermediates involved in catalytic reactions.