Acceleration of the rearrangement of long-lived carbocations on aluminum oxide surfaces

1.Acceleration of the degenerate and nondegenerate rearrangement of long-lived 1-R-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexamethylbenzenium ions (R=Me, Ph) on alumina surfaces as compared with solutions has been observed.2.These results contradict the criterion of the involvement of carbocations as intermediates in heterogeneous catalytic processes, which requires that the activation energies of the acid-catalyzed isomerization of hydrocarbons under homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions should be similar.