The elementary steps of catalytic reactions

The following chapters will discuss the characteristics of the elementary steps starting with those that form the Entry of catalytic cycles and finishing with those that appear usually in the Detachment step. It should be noted already here that most of the elementary steps functioning as Entry might also appear in the Attachment step (see Table 1.), although in general, combinations of alike steps are less common than other sequences. 

Of the steps listed in Table 1. some are encountered more frequently, while others are less common. Transition metal catalyzed processes usually begin with oxidative addition or coordination-addition as an Entry, which is commonly followed by transmetalation or insertion in the Attachment phase. The final Detachment step is either reductive elimination, or p-hydride elimination, depending on the nature of the intermediate. 

As several elementary steps (e.g. transmetalation, C-H activation) might appear at different stages of the process they will be discussed in general, 

Finally, the hybridization of the carbon atom also has a marked effect on its willingness to attach to the transition metal. Allyl or benzyl halides undergo oxidative addition faster than aromatic or vinyl halides. The least reactive are alkyl halides which require the use of nickel(O)9 complexes or highly active catalyst systems.10 If we start from an optically active substrate, then the oxidative addition usually proceeds in a stereoselective manner. 

In a series of late transition metal catalyzed processes the first step in the catalytic cycle is the coordination of the reagent to the metal atom, which is in a positive oxidation state, followed by its covalent attachment through the concomitant breaking of an unsaturated carbon-carbon bond or a carbon-hydrogen bond. These processes usually require a highly electrophilic metal centre and are frequently carried out in an intramolecular fashion. The carbometalation processes that follow a similar course, but take place only at a later stage in the catalytic cycle, will be discussed later. 

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These difficulties have stimulated the development of defined model catalysts better suited for fundamental studies (Fig. 15.2). Single crystals are the most well-defined model systems, and studies of their structure and interaction with gas molecules have explained the elementary steps of catalytic reactions, including surface relaxation/reconstruction, adsorbate bonding, structure sensitivity, defect reactivity, surface dynamics, etc. [2, 5-7]. Single crystals were also modified by overlayers of oxides ( inverse catalysts ) [8], metals, alkali, and carbon (Fig. 15.2). However, macroscopic (cm size) single crystals cannot mimic catalyst properties that are related to nanosized metal particles. The structural difference between a single-crystal surface and supported metal nanoparticles ( 1-10 nm in diameter) is typically referred to as a materials gap. Provided that nanoparticles exhibit only low Miller index facets (such as the cuboctahedral particles in Fig. 15.1 and 15.2), and assuming that the support material is inert, one could assume that the catalytic properties of a... 

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