Structure and reactivity of metal clusters of the platinum group

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Metals of the platinum group are widely used in heterogeneous catalytic applications. Often these catalysts also contain the metal in nano-dispersed form. This project aims for an experimental investigation of the structural properties of very small metal particles that contain only a few atoms, clusters, and their chemical behaviour. Different types of spectroscopy will be applied to obtain more detailed information on the geometric and electronic structure of small metal clusters of ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, and platinum in the gas phase. In particular we will apply optical excitation, anion photo electron, and infrared spectroscopy. The combination of these complimentary methods shall give a comprehensive set of reference data to test and further develop theoretical methods used for the description of the platinum group clusters. A second major focus will be the investigation of methane activation by these clusters. Using ligand exchange with argon atoms we have been recently able to prepare complexes of platinum clusters with molecular, but strongly activated, methane. We now propose a more detailed investigation of such complexes also for other metals and to induce H-transfer reactions to the metal to probe the potential energy surface(s) relevant for C-H bond breaking in these complexes. These studies on a well-characterizable model system can give unprecedented insights into the mechanism of C-H activation on small metal particles.