Surface and Interfacial Organometallic Chemistry and Catalysis

Heterogeneous catalysis has been essential to the development of efficient chemical processes for more than a century, and this field has been traditionally part of the solid state chemistry and surface science communities. The design of better catalysts has raised the following questions: "what is the structure of the active sites?" and "how to control their nature?" The necessary need to develop more sustainable chemical processes and the success of homogeneous catalysis relying on molecular organometallic chemistry has led the community of molecular chemists to investigate the preparation of single-site heterogeneous catalysts. The authors discuss the molecular design, the preparation, the characterisation and the catalytic applications of well-defined oxides and metal particles. The readers will acquire a molecular understanding of heterogeneous catalysis, which will help them develop a critical view and which will attract them to study this fascinating field.

From the reviews:

"The stated goal of this book … is ‘to show that molecular chemistry is also a tool for studying much larger systems, such as those involved in heterogeneous catalysis’.

Overall, the book fully accomplishes the editors’ goal and
as a whole makes a cogent argument in support of the
importance of detailed model studies for understanding complex
organometallic processes at heterogeneous interfaces. The book
could have used a comprehensive introductory chapter or preface
that more clearly emphasized the motivation behind the solicited
contributions and presented a cohesive overview. Previous
volumes of this series have been clearly aided by such a section
(i.e., Volumes 2-4, 7, and 9). Chapter 5 could easily have been
adapted for this purpose because it reiterates the thesis statement
of the volume. I would suggest that the novice or educational
reader begin here.
Scientists, upper-level graduate students, and post docs
working in this field would greatly benefit by reading some or
all of the excellent contributions that have been assembled in
this volume. Although reasonably expensive for individual
purchase, this 291-page book is highly recommended for
purchase by academic and industrial libraries, especially as a
component of the Topics in Organometallic Chemistry series.
Additionally, the text is available on-line to subscribers."

(Bradley J. Holliday, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 129 (12), 2007)