oa The Bonding of Adsorbed Species at Catalyst Surfaces

The nature of the bonds between catalyst surfaces and the adsorbed intermediates formed during catalytic reactions is still a matter for discussion. A recent symposium organised by the American Chemical Society was devoted to this subject, as well as a General Discussion of the Faraday Society held in Liverpool in April. Although many new techniques have become available and have been exploited during the past decade, they have only served to reveal a multiplicity of adsorbed states whose relevance to catalysis is uncertain, and there has been no corresponding advance in basic theory. The purpose of this article is to present a sketch of a possible new approach to the bonding of adsorbed species on metal surfaces.