MECHANISMS OF HYDROCARBON SYNTHESIS BY HYDROGENATION OF CARBON MONOXIDE.

Recent evidence on the mechanism of the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon monoxide stresses the importance of carbon monoxide dissociation in the initiation step. Partially hydrogenated surface carbon species play a predominant role in the growth of hydrocarbon chains. A parallel route involving the insertion of undissociated carbon monoxide into a metal-alkyl bond may account for the formation of oxygen-containing products. A survey is presented of the more important mechanisms and reaction schemes which have been proposed over the past sixty years.