Jp. Candy et al., SURFACE ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY ON METALS - A NOVEL AND EFFECTIVE ROUTE TO CUSTOM-DESIGNED BIMETALLIC CATALYSTS, Journal of molecular catalysis, 86(1-3), 1994, pp. 179-204
The synthesis, characterization and catalytic properties of new materi
als obtained by reaction of organometallic complexes of groups IIb, IV
a, and VIa with the surface of metallic particles are reviewed. Two ty
pes of materials may be obtained by surface organometallic chemistry o
n metals: metal particles covered with organometallic fragments, and b
imetallic particles of predetermined composition. Characterization of
the organometallic fragments on the metal particles has demonstrated t
heir thermal stability. These particles covered with surface organomet
allic fragments are new catalytic materials, highly selective in sever
al reactions such as the hydrogenation of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldeh
ydes, ethyl pyruvate, nitrobenzene, acrylonitrile, and olefins. The bi
metallic particles without organometallic fragments are also highly ac
tive and selective for a variety of reactions such as hydrogenolysis o
f various alkanes and hydrogenolysis of esters. For these systems, the
concept of ''site isolation'' has been advanced to account for the hi
gh selectivity of the reactions.