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The origins of the petrochemical industry can be traced back to the 1920s when simple organic chemicals such as ethanol and isopropanol were first prepared on an industrial scale from by-products (ethylene and propylene) of oil refining. This oil-based petrochemical industry, with lower olefms and aromatics as the key building blocks, rapidly developed into the enormous industry it is today. A multitude of products that are indispensible to modern day society, from plastics to pharmaceuticals, are derived from oil and natural gas-based hydro­ carbons. The industry had its heyday in the'50s and'60s when predictions of future growth rates tended to be exponential curves. However, two developments that took place in the early'70s disturbed this simplistic and optimistic view of the future. Firstly, the publication of the report for the Cub of Rome on the'Limits to Growth'emphasized the finite nature of non-renewable fossil fuel resources. Secondly, the Oil Crisis of 1973 emphasized the vulnerability of an energy and chemicals industry that is based largely on a single raw material.

Born and initially developed in various industrial laboratories, mainly in U.S.A. and Gennany, homogeneous phase catalytic carbon monoxide hydrogenation and alcohols and their derivatives carbonylation and homologation, have generally been considered and reviewed separately in the course of their 40 years history without concern for common aspects in the chemical transfonnations and in catalysis. Thanks to researchers of Japanese companies participating in the National C 1 Chemistry Project (1980-1987) the scientific and technical approaches in this field have been unified and applied in parallel, in the light of some common aspects of the chemical reactions and mechanisms. Now, at a moment when research seems becahned, a general presentation and discussion of the most recent topics might be an useful basis for further development of this chemistry. To delimit and simplify the discussion of the chemical aspects and the nature of the catalysts involved, the present review is limited to reactions employing homogeneous metal complexes for the direct conversion of syngas to oxygenates and to the hydrocarbonylation of these last to homologous derivatives. Since the previous practically contemporary reviews by Dombek [in Adv. Organomet. Chern. (1983)] on CO hydrogenation and by the present authors [in Asp.Homog.Catal.(Reidel Pu.l984)] on alcohol homologation fully cover the literature up to 1982, here we mainly refer to work done after 1982, and consider the cited reviews as covering the historical development of research in the 1940- 1980 period.

The aim of this volume is to provide scientists with a comprehensive summary of new research areas in the activation of carbon monoxide, as one of the most reactive molecules, and in its applications. In order to understand the variety of the reactivity of CO, a quantum-chemical approach helps the reader to understand the binding state of CO to the solid surface (Chapter 1). The structure of the adsorbed CO can be better understood by examining its reactivity towards single crystals in the absence and in the presence of promoters (Chapter 2). The first approach in the reactivity study is that of studying catalytic activity of single crystals and structure sensitivity which are summarized in Chapter 3. One of the most prominent effects in the CO activation process is ascribed to the presence of additives, promoters which, in a real catalyst system, are far more complicated than on single crystal surfaces (Chapter 4). The original Fischer-Tropsch process applied fused iron or cobalt catalysts which were suitable for producing mainly straight chain hydrocarbons. The two most important processes involving CO activation, the new FT process and alcohol formation are discussed in Chapters 5 and 7. An important type of catalyst, the bimetallic catalysts, is discussed in Chapter 6. The role of hydrogen as one of the most frequently used partners in CO activation is discussed in Chapter 8. The field of production of specialty chemicals is an excellent example of the homogeneous catalytic activation of CO (Chapter 9). In Chapter 10 an overview is given of the industrial applications of CO chemistry and these are illustrated by working processes. The final chapter gives the reader some hints about future progress in the field.