Metal-ligand interactions: gas-phase transition metal cluster carbonyls

Abstract

Experimental studies of the interactions of small transition-metal cluster anions with carbonyl ligands are reviewed and compared with neutral and cationic clusters. Under thermal conditions, the reaction rates of transition-metal clusters with carbon monoxide are measured as a function of cluster size. Saturation limits for carbon monoxide addition can be related to the geometric structures of the clusters. Both energy-resolved threshold collision-induced dissociation experiments and time-resolved photodissociation experiments are used to measure metal-carbonyl binding energies. For platinum and palladium trimer anions, the carbonyl binding energies are assigned to different geometric binding sites. Platinum and palladium cluster anions catalyse the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide in a full catalytic cycle at thermal energies.