NMR-STUDIES OF THE STRUCTURES AND REACTIONS OF SIMPLE MOLECULES ADSORBED ON METAL-CLUSTERS

Our group has used NMR to study the simple hydrocarbons acetylene and ethylene adsorbed on the surfaces of small supported Group VIII metal clusters typical of industrial catalysts. This article will introduce the NMR techniques employed and review some of our results, focussing on recent work studying surface reactions. The reactions studied include: the conversion of the low temperature species of ethylene to ethylidyne, hydrogen-deuterium exchange in ethylidyne, the reaction of vinylidene with hydrogen to form ethylidyne, and the dehydrogenation of vinylidene.