Worldwide, more than 85% of all chemical products are manufactured with the help of catalysts. Virtually all transition metals of the periodic table are active as catalysts or catalyst promoters. Catalysts are divided into homogeneous catalysts, which are soluble in the reaction medium, and heterogeneous catalysts, which remain in the solid state.…

While several engineering and science disciplines, including biology and environmental science, have greatly benefited from adopting a systems thinking approach, its extension to chemistry education is a much more recent advancement. The initial body of literature in this direction has largely surveyed the feasibility for systems thinking in…

Probably owing to the prejudice that gold is a metal too noble to be used much in chemistry, the chemistry of this element has developed much later than that of its congeners and neighbors in the periodic table. In fact, before and after the time of alchemists, and up to the 20th century, all chemistry of gold was mainly performed in attempts to…

Examines four processes involving homogeneous catalysis which highlight the contrast between the simplicity of the overall reaction and the complexity of the catalytic cycle. Describes how catalysts provide circuitous routes in which all energy barriers are relatively low rather than lowering the activation energy for a single step reaction.…

This reaction is used in an introductory organic chemistry course to illustrate principles of gas-liquid chromatography, geometrical isomerism, homogeneous catalysis, and activation energy determinations. (BB)

Because interest in catalysts is widespread, the kinetics of catalytic reactions have been investigated by widely diverse groups of individuals, including chemists, engineers, and biologists. This has lead to redundancy in theories, particularly with regard to the topics of homogeneous, heterogeneous, and enzyme catalysis. From a pedagogical…

Suggests several mechanisms for catalysis by metal ion complexes. Discusses the principal factors of importance in these catalysis reactions and suggests reactions suitable for laboratory study. (MLH)

Discusses three areas of catalysis: homegeneous, heterogeneous, and enzymatic. Explains fundamentals and economic impact of catalysis. Lists and discusses common industrial catalysts. Provides a list of 107 references. (MVL)

An upper-level undergraduate experiment that, in addition to introducing students to catalysis using an air sensitive transition-metal complex, introduces the use of a solid acid as an activator and support for the catalyst is developed. The increased stability acquired in the course of the process affords the opportunity to characterize the…