Important Reactions that Require More Detailed Studies

The potential that HNCC offer is beginning to be realized. It is clear that they have properties and exhibit reaction patterns that differ markedly from their mononuclear counterparts and even low-nuclearity clusters. It is also apparent that their reactivity patterns may be rationalized in simplistic terms and thereby extended to other systems. However, much work remains to be done, particularly in designed synthesis and studies of reaction mechanisms. The ability of these clusters to combine with important small substrates such as CO and Hj need also to be explored in much more detail. The study of the reactivity of large mixed-metal systems, which, as expected, exhibit enhanced and modified reactivities, equally requires more detailed investigation. In fact it would be useful to have available HNCC, which contain early and late transition metal elements, in order to combine both Lewis basic and Lewis... 

The understanding of the degradation of natural products such as camphor has been greatly enhanced by understanding the catalytic cycle of the cytochrome P-450 enzyme P-450cam in structural detail.3,4 These enzymes catalyze the addition of 02 to nonactivated hydrocarbons at room temperatures and pressures - a reaction that requires high temperature to proceed in the absence of a catalyst. O-Methyltransferases are central to the secondary metabolic pathway of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. The structural basis of the diverse substrate specificities of such enzymes has been studied by solving the crystal structures of chalcone O-methyltransferase and isoflavone O-methyltransferase complexed with the reaction products.5 Structures of these and other enzymes are obviously important for the development of biomimetic and thus environmentally more friendly approaches to natural product synthesis. 

It is to note that some of the issues touched upon in this chapter still require a more detailed experimental study and theoretical interpretation. In particular, the model considered above, which makes it possible to relate an increase in the catalytic activity to appearance of charge on nanoparticles, undoubtedly needs refinement and a more thorough experimental verification. A clear understanding of the important issue of how the electrical properties of conducting supports affect the catalytic activity of deposited structures requires that, in the first place, experiments with a larger number of reactions and a wide variety of metallic and semiconducting substrates... 

The solvated electron is a transient chemical species which exists in many solvents. The domain of existence of the solvated electron starts with the solvation time of the precursor and ends with the time required to complete reactions with other molecules or ions present in the medium. Due to the importance of water in physics, chemistry and biochemistry, the solvated electron in water has attracted much interest in order to determine its structure and excited states. The solvated electrons in other solvents are less quantitatively known, and much remains to be done, particularly with the theory. Likewise, although ultrafast dynamics of the excess electron in liquid water and in a few alcohols have been extensively studied over the past two decades, many questions concerning the mechanisms of localization, thermalization, and solvation of the electron still remain. Indeed, most interpretations of those dynamics correspond to phenomenological and macroscopic approaches leading to many kinetic schemes but providing little insight into microscopic and structural aspects of the electron dynamics. Such information can only be obtained by comparisons between experiments and theoretical models. For that, developments of quantum and molecular dynamics simulations are necessary to get a more detailed picture of the electron solvation process and to unravel the structure of the solvated electron in many solvents. 

Redox equilibria between the various oxidation states of selenium have been little studied. This is apparently a consequence of slow reaction rates. For instance, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that the redox potential measured by a platinum electrode is not affected by the ratio of Se(VI) / Se(lV) present in solution, [87RUN/LIN]. The values of the standard electrode potentials of the important redox couples Se(VI) / Se(IV) and Se(lV) / Se(0) are essentially based on only one experimental investigation each. A more detailed discussion than would normally be required will therefore be made of the two investigations. 

---