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........ published in NEWSLETTER # 46

METAL-LIGAND INTERACTIONS: FROM ATOMS, TO CLUSTERS, TO SURFACES
by Professor D.R. Salahub, University of Montreal, Montreal (Canada)

Metal-ligand interactions are currently being studied in several different fields from a variety of points of view. Recent progress in many of these fields has been substantial, outstanding in some instances. The inorganic and organometallic chemists have discovered whole new classes of compounds and of reactions; the surface scientists have invented an arsenal of spectroscopic, and other probes; catalysis is able to ascertain mechanistic details at more and more microscopic levels; and the theorists are inventing and improving techniques to treat the energetics and the dynamics of more and more complex systems. This multidisciplinarity, as usual, leads to both great opportunities for cross-fertilization and also great problems in establishing a common language and sharing experience. The goal of this ASI was to promote interactions across these fields, to expose young researchers at an early stage in their career, to the several conceptual frameworks that currently contribute to the area. The time is ripe for such interactions; the tools, both theoretical and experimental, are in an advanced stage of development, and fundamental questions remain without answers. The most fundamental of these concerns the nature of the microscopic interactions between metal atoms (clusters, surfaces) and ligands (atoms, molecules, adsorbates, reagents, products) and the changes in these interactions during physical and chemical transformations. The approach used for organizing this ASI and to produce the proceedings volume (NATO ASI SERIES C378) was to invite leading experts to represent each of the aspects represented below:
- Ab Initio Theory
- Semi Empirical Theory
- Density Functional Theory
- Complexes and Clusters
- Surfaces
- Catalysis

Reference books: B16, B191, B198, B239, B283, B300, C105, C231, C378, E17, E170, E173, E176

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