Carbon-hydrogen bond activation energetics

The application of the theory of absolute reaction rates (36) to catalysis turns out to be closest to the multiplet theory. The former was applied for the first time by Temkin (58) with a simplifying assumption that the sum of the partition functions of the particles on the surface equals unity. Let us note the results (36) that are near to the multiplet theory. The theory of absolute reaction rates, based on quantum mechanics and statistics, proved that in the case of adsorption, the attraction of the two-atom molecules (of hydrogen) to two atoms of the catalyst (carbon or nickel) is energetically more favorable than to one atom. It demonstrates that on solid surfaces the true energy of activation must be small and that for the endothermic process it must be nearly equal to the heat of the latter. As in the multiplet theory, the theory considers the new bonds as beginning to be formed before the old ones are broken. The theory deals with the real arrangement of atoms and with the mutual energy of their valence electrons. 

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