Catalysis and Mechanisms of Reactions

Summary

Catalysis lies at the heart of chemical transformations, enabling reagents to convert into products under milder conditions and with greater selectivity than would otherwise be possible. At its core, catalysis provides an alternative pathway with a lower activation barrier, accelerating both forward and reverse rates without altering the position of equilibrium. In mechanistic terms, a catalyst can interact transiently with reactants—through adsorption on active sites in heterogeneous processes or via formation of reactive intermediates in homogeneous media—before regenerating at the end of each cycle. These elementary steps are often classified by the making and breaking of bonds, electron‐pair movements or proton transfers, and may involve surface diffusion, ligand exchange or redox events. Unravelling such sequences is central to chemical kinetics, since the overall rate is controlled by the slowest, rate‐determining step. Advances in in situ spectroscopic and computational methods have enabled the direct observation and simulation of key intermediates, deepening our understanding of how catalyst composition, structure and the reaction environment jointly determine activity, selectivity and stability. Catalysis underpins sustainable manufacturing—from bulk chemicals and fuels to fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals—while playing a pivotal role in energy conversion, environmental protection and materials science.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A low-loading IrO₂@TaB₂ nano-diboride support has been shown to deliver ultrastable oxygen evolution at current densities above 2 A cm⁻² in acidic water electrolysis. The TaB₂ framework spatially confines sub-nanometre IrO₂ clusters, modulates interfacial charge distribution and suppresses dissolution, yielding negligible degradation over hundreds of hours. In parallel, a manganese oxybromide catalyst (Mn₇.₅O₁₀Br₃) achieves an overpotential of just 295 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and maintains performance for over 500 h. Combined operando spectroscopy and theory reveal that self-forming surface layers enhance electronic conduction and resist leaching, illustrating a lattice-oxygen–assisted pathway distinct from classical adsorbate evolution.

Catalysis and Mechanisms of Reactions publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in catalysis and mechanisms of reactions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Catalysis: Acceleration of a chemical reaction by a substance (catalyst) that is regenerated unchanged at the end of each cycle.

Activation energy: The energy barrier separating reactants from products; lowered by the catalyst to increase reaction rate.

Turnover frequency (TOF): Number of product molecules formed per active site per unit time, a measure of intrinsic catalytic activity.

Overpotential: Additional potential beyond the thermodynamic requirement needed to drive an electrochemical reaction at a given rate.

d-band centre: The average energy of a metal’s d-electron density of states; its position correlates with adsorption strength and catalytic properties.

Operando spectroscopy: Real-time spectroscopic probing of a working catalyst under reaction conditions to identify active sites and intermediates.

References

  1. Nano-metal diborides-supported anode catalyst with strongly coupled TaOx/IrO2 catalytic layer for low-iridium-loading proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. Nature Communications (2023).
  2. Local coordination and electronic interactions of Pd/MXene via dual‐atom codoping with superior durability for efficient electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation. Carbon Energy (2024).
  3. Development of Nickel-BTC-MOF-Derived Nanocomposites with rGO Towards Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Methanol and Its Product Analysis. Catalysts (2019).
  4. Catalysts and Catalytic Reactions.
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