Chapter 2 Chemical reactivity and catalytic properties of size-selected gas-phase metal clusters

Abstract

This chapter discusses chemical reactivity and catalytic properties of size-selected gas-phase metal clusters. The chapter presents some aspects unique to the study of gas-phase metal cluster ions and to introduce concepts that are important to cluster ion chemistry, in particular, with respect to the analysis of catalytic reaction mechanisms. These aspects and concepts summarized in the chapter are illustrated by examples. Specific examples of cooperative adsorption effects on gas-phase gold and silver clusters are given in the chapter. In addition, it also focuses on some prominent examples for the reactivity and, in particular, the catalytic behavior of small clusters of iron, platinum, gold, and silver. The catalytic activity of gold and silver clusters in the CO oxidation reaction is discovered only recently and the chapter is devoted to gas-phase studies on gold, silver, and binary cluster ions, trying to illustrate the concepts outlined in the chapter.