Many industrial catalysts contain isolated metal sites on the surface of oxide supports. Although such catalysts have been used in a broad range of processes for more than 40 years, there is often a very limited understanding about the structure of the catalytically active sites. This Review discusses how surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC) engineers surface sites with well-defined structures and provides insight into the nature of the active sites of industrial catalysts; the Review focuses in particular on olefin production and conversion processes.

Since its early days, olefin metathesis has been in the focus of scientific discussions and technology development. While heterogeneous olefin metathesis catalysts based on supported group 6 metal oxides have...

Designing supported alkene metathesis catalysts with high activity and stability is still a challenge, despite significant advances in the last years. Described herein is the combination of strong σ-donating N-heterocyclic carbene ligands with weak σ-donating surface silanolates and cationic tungsten sites leading to highly active and stable alkene metathesis catalysts. These well-defined silica-supported catalysts, [(≡SiO)W(=O)(=CHCMe2 Ph)(IMes)(OTf)] and [(≡SiO)W(=O)(=CHCMe2 Ph)(IMes)(+) ][B(Ar(F) )4 (-) ] [IMes=1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene, B(Ar(F) )4 =B(3,5-(CF3 )2 C6 H3 )4 ] catalyze alkene metathesis, and the cationic species display unprecedented activity for a broad range of substrates, especially for terminal olefins with turnover numbers above 1.2 million for propene.

Dendrimer-shielded polarizing agents for the application of DNP SENS to reactive surfaces.