The catalytic cleavage under hydrogen of the C-H and C-C bonds of alkanes with conventional catalysts requires high temperatures. Room-temperature hydrogenolysis of simple alkanes is possible on a well-defined and well-characterized zirconium hydride supported on silica obtained by surface organometallic chemistry. The surface structure resulting from hydrogenolysis of (≡SiO)Zr(Np) ₃ (Np, neopentyl) was determined from the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and ¹ H and ²⁹ Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared (IR) spectra. A mechanism for the formation of (≡SiO) ₃ Zr-H and (≡SiO) ₂ SiH ₂ and the resulting low-temperature hydrogenolysis of alkanes is proposed. The mechanism may have implications for the catalytic formation of methane, ethane, and lower alkanes in natural gas.

It is shown that the introduction of sterically demanding ligands in lanthanoid metal complexes can depend more on the precise composition of the lanthanoid precursor than on the size of the new ligand. Thus, tris(r-butyl)methanol (“rmojt-H”) does not react with the amides Ln[N(SiMe₃)₂]₃ of the “late” (small) lanthanoid metals. However, fast and clean reactions occur with the sterically less demanding derivatives Ln[N(SiHMe₂)₂]₃, with new homoleptic complexes Ln(tritox)₃ (Ln = Y, Nd) being formed with practically all metals of this group of elements. The molecular and crystal structures of some lanthanoid amides and alkoxides are described.