Atomic Scale Foundation of Covalent and Acid-Base Catalysis in Reaction Selectivity and Turnover Rate

摘要

Modern industrial catalysts are highly engineered multi-component materials, which are optimized to be highly efficient for the given reaction. The key components of every catalyst are: (1) the active metal and (2) the support. The former is active through the formation of covalent bonds with surface species, activating the bonds in the targeted molecule. In many systems the support is a metal oxide, which can promote charged intermediates in acid-base type catalytic chemistry. When the covalent chemistry of the metal catalyst and the acid-base chemistry of the support work together, the overall catalytic productivity can be much greater than the sum of the parts. This synergic interaction also works in favor of changes in the selectivity of complex reactions. This intent of this article is to analyze covalent metal catalysis both alone and in tandem with acid-base heterogeneous catalysis.