Molecular-level control of catalyst surfaces is necessary for design of multi-functionalized catalytic sites and ensembles. The new and distinct materials and chemistry prepared stepwise in a controllable manner by using organometallic and inorganic complexes as precursors provide an opportunity for the development of efficient catalytic molecularly-organized surfaces. The key factors of chemical design of supported catalyst surfaces are composition, structure, oxidation state, distribution, morphology, polarity, etc. which should be organized at the surface. In the development of novel catalysts, new chemical concepts and strategies regarding composition or structure are conceived. New strategy and concept lead to tailor-made catalyst design for target reactions in green sustainable processes, where in situ characterizations are inevitably important for understanding of the origin and mechanism of the tremendous catalysis by the designed surfaces and for development of a new class of efficient catalysts. These key issues may also be derived from single crystal surfaces by surface analysis techniques and also from theoretical calculations.
The talk focuses on several recent topics of novel catalyst design and new catalysis mechanism on oxide surfaces for selective catalysis such as epoxidation, selective oxidation, asymmetric catalysis, shape-selective catalysis, acid-base catalysis, environmental catalysis, etc.