For heterogeneous catalysis

The microscopic understanding of tire chemical reactivity of surfaces is of fundamental interest in chemical physics and important for heterogeneous catalysis. Cluster science provides a new approach for tire study of tire microscopic mechanisms of surface chemical reactivity [48]. Surfaces of small clusters possess a very rich variation of chemisoriDtion sites and are ideal models for bulk surfaces. Chemical reactivity of many transition-metal clusters has been investigated [49]. Transition-metal clusters are produced using laser vaporization, and tire chemical reactivity studies are carried out typically in a flow tube reactor in which tire clusters interact witli a reactant gas at a given temperature and pressure for a fixed period of time. Reaction products are measured at various pressures or temperatures and reaction rates are derived. It has been found tliat tire reactivity of small transition-metal clusters witli simple molecules such as H2 and NH can vary dramatically witli cluster size and stmcture [48, 49, M and 52]. 

FIGURE 6 1 A mechanism for heterogeneous catalysis in the hydrogenation of alkenes... 

P. Meakin, D. J. Scalapino. Simple models for heterogeneous catalysis Phase transitions-like behavior in nonequilibrium systems. J Chem Phys 57 731-741, 1987. 

M. Kolb, Y. Boudeville. Kinetic model for heterogeneous catalysis Cluster and percolation properties. J Chem Phys 92 3935-3945, 1990. 

Several aluminum- and titanium-based compounds have been supported on silica and alumina [53]. Although silica and alumina themselves catalyze cycloaddition reactions, their catalytic activity is greatly increased when they complex a Lewis acid. Some of these catalysts are among the most active described to date for heterogeneous catalysis of the Diels-Alder reactions of carbonyl-containing dienophiles. The Si02-Et2AlCl catalyst is the most efficient and can be... 

Steps 1 through 9 constitute a model for heterogeneous catalysis in a fixed-bed reactor. There are many variations, particularly for Steps 4 through 6. For example, the Eley-Rideal mechanism described in Problem 10.4 envisions an adsorbed molecule reacting directly with a molecule in the gas phase. Other models contemplate a mixture of surface sites that can have different catalytic activity. For example, the platinum and the alumina used for hydrocarbon reforming may catalyze different reactions. Alternative models lead to rate expressions that differ in the details, but the functional forms for the rate expressions are usually similar. 

Theoretically, the problem has been attacked by various approaches and on different levels. Simple derivations are connected with the theory of extrathermodynamic relationships and consider a single and simple mechanism of interaction to be a sufficient condition (2, 120). Alternative simple derivations depend on a plurality of mechanisms (4, 121, 122) or a complex mechanism of so called cooperative processes (113), or a particular form of temperature dependence (123). Fundamental studies in the framework of statistical mechanics have been done by Riietschi (96), Ritchie and Sager (124), and Thorn (125). Theories of more limited range of application have been advanced for heterogeneous catalysis (4, 5, 46-48, 122) and for solution enthalpies and entropies (126). However, most theories are concerned with reactions in the condensed phase (6, 127) and assume the controlling factors to be solvent effects (13, 21, 56, 109, 116, 128-130), hydrogen bonding (131), steric (13, 116, 132) and electrostatic (37, 133) effects, and the tunnel effect (4,... 

In any catalyst selection procedure the first step will be the search for an active phase, be it a. solid or complexes in a. solution. For heterogeneous catalysis the. second step is also deeisive for the success of process development the choice of the optimal particle morphology. The choice of catalyst morphology (size, shape, porous texture, activity distribution, etc.) depends on intrinsic reaction kinetics as well as on diffusion rates of reactants and products. The catalyst cannot be cho.sen independently of the reactor type, because different reactor types place different demands on the catalyst. For instance, fixed-bed reactors require relatively large particles to minimize the pressure drop, while in fluidized-bed reactors relatively small particles must be used. However, an optimal choice is possible within the limits set by the reactor type. 

R. R. Vang, E. Laesgaard and F. Besenbacher, Bridging the pressure gap in model systems for heterogeneous catalysis with high-pressure STM, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., to be published. 

In this chapter, we demonstrate the potential of such agents as catalysts/promoters in key steps for the derivatization of sugars. The most significant catalytic approaches in carbohydrate chemistry that use aluminosilicate porous materials, namely zeolites and montmorillonite clays, are reviewed and discussed. Silica gel is a porous solid silicate that has also been used for heterogeneous catalysis of organic reactions in general. We include here its usefulness as promoter and reagent support for the reactions under consideration. 

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