On the Analogy between Metal Clusters and Surfaces

This means that there are enough bulk metal atoms to be detected by experimental techniques of sufficient resolution. In this sense, large organometallic clusters and colloidal particles are ideal systems for studying the transition from the molecular to the metallic state. 

Besides these apparent similarities, there are, of course, also substantial differences. Long range effects on metal surfaces are completely absent in those cluster models (and clusters) which contain only a few surface atoms. Some characteristics of the cluster model which have a large impact on the chemisorption behavior (e.g. the ionization potential, the electron affinity, the position of the Fermi level, the static polarizability, etc.) may be considerably different than the corresponding bulk values. These differences obviously reflect the truncated nature of the cluster and the atypical coordination of its constituent atoms. The so-called bond preparation approach has been proposed to overcome, at least 

2 Electronic Structures of Metal Clusters and Cluster Compounds 

We would like to thank L. Ackermann, T. Fox, O. HSberlen, S. Kdstlmeier, and S. Krliger for their scientific efforts and for their help during the preparation of this review. Our work has been generoudy supported over the years by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, by the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie and by the European Community Sdence Program. 

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