Gaseous Platinum Clusters: Versatile Models for Heterogeneous Catalysts

Cationic platinum clusters are proposed as models for heterogeneous catalysts. In the gas phase, the intrinsic reactivities of the cluster ions can be thoroughly investigated by means of Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance mass spectrometry. The reactions probed in these experiments indeed closely resemble various industrially important processes and contribute to a better understanding of the metal's catalytic activity.