Disclosed is a method for preparing a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound based on a metal hydride/palladium compound system. The method includes the following steps: suspending a palladium compound and a metal hydride in a solvent under the protection of nitrogen, then adding an electron-deficient olefin compound, reacting same at 0 C.-100 C. for 0.3 to 10 hours, then adding a saturated ammonium chloride aqueous solution to stop the reaction, and then subjecting same to extraction, evaporation until dryness, and column chromatography purification to obtain the 1,3-dicarbonyl compound. The hydride and palladium compound catalysts used by the present invention are reagents easily obtained in a laboratory. Compared to a common hydrogen hydrogenation method, the method is easier to operate, and has a higher safety, mild conditions, and a high reaction yield.

The present invention provides a catalyst system for producing cyclic carbonates from carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) and epoxide-based compounds comprising: a pre-catalyst; and a co-catalyst wherein said pre catalyst is BiCl.sub.3 and said co-catalyst is selected from tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB), tetra-n-butylammonium iodide (TBAI), tetra-n-butylphosphonium bromide (PBu.sub.4Br), tetra-n-butylphosphonium iodide (PBu.sub.4I) or mixtures thereof.

The present invention relates to the use of a transition metal catalyst TMC1, which comprises a transition metal M selected from metals of groups 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the periodic table of elements according to IUPAC and a tetradentate ligand of formula I wherein R.sup.1 are identical or different and are each an organic radical having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms, and R.sup.2 are identical or different and are each an organic radical having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms, as catalyst in processes for formation of compounds comprising at least one carboxylic acid ester functional group OC(O) starting from at least one primary alcohol and/or hydrogenation of compounds comprising at least one carboxylic acid ester functional group OC(O). The present invention further relates to a process for hydrogenation of a compound comprising at least one carboxylic acid ester functional group OC(O), to a process for the formation of a compound comprising at least one carboxylic acid ester functional group OC(O) by dehydrogenase coupling of at least one primary alcohol with a second alcoholic OH-group, to a transition metal complex comprising the tetradentate ligand of formula I and to a process for preparing said transition metal complex.

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Provided are a method for producing a polyamide including an amide-based molecular weight controller and a polyamide produced thereby, wherein the amide-based molecular weight controller may easily control the molecular weight of the polyamide to have a narrow molecular weight distribution so as to prevent an increase in the molecular weight due to a basic intermediate produced in anionic polymerization and a side reaction generated under a high-temperature polymerization condition.

Nanoparticles that can be used as hydrosilylation and dehydrogenative silylation catalysts. The nanoparticles have at least one transition metal with an oxidation state of 0, chosen from the metals of columns 8, 9 and 10 of the periodic table, and at least one carbonyl ligand, preferably a silicide.

Surface hydroxyl groups on porous and nonporous metal oxides, such as silica gel and alumina, were metalated with catalyst precursors, such as complexes of earth abundant metals (e.g., Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn and Mg). The metalated metal oxide catalysts provide a versatile family of recyclable and reusable single-site solid catalysts for catalyzing a variety of organic transformations. The catalysts can also be integrated into a flow reactor or a supercritical fluid reactor.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a polyamide by coordinated anionic ring-opening polymerization and a polyamide produced thereby, wherein metal alkoxide as an initiator and metal hydride as a catalyst are added to enable polymerization having a narrow molecular weight distribution and uniform molecular weight within a short polymerization reaction time at a low temperature, without a separate vacuum process, as compared with an existing polymerization method.

Provided herein are bi-metallic catalysts, methods of making, and uses thereof. In some embodiments, the bi-metallic catalyst contains two different metal catalysts that can be used in hydrocarbon metathesis reactions, in some embodiments, the methods of making the bi-metallic catalysts can include two steps utilizing a surface organometallic chemistry approach in which the two different metal catalysts are sequentially grafted onto a support.

Methods of selectively synthesizing n-tetrasilane are disclosed. N-tetrasilane is prepared by catalysis of silane (SiH.sub.4), disilane (Si.sub.2H.sub.6), trisilane (Si.sub.3H.sub.8), or mixtures thereof. More particularly, the disclosed synthesis methods tune and optimize the n-tetrasilane:i-tetrasilane isomer ratio. The isomer ratio may be optimized by selection of process parameters, such as temperature and the relative amount of starting compounds, as well as selection of proper catalyst. The disclosed synthesis methods allow facile preparation of n-tetrasilane.

The present disclosure provides a method and a catalyst for selective oligomerization of ethylene. The raw material for the catalyst consists of a dehydropyridine annulene-type ligand, a transition metal compound, and an organometallic compound in a molar ratio of 1:0.5-100:0.1-5000. The present disclosure also provides a method for selective oligomerization of ethylene accomplished by using the above-mentioned catalyst. The catalyst for selective oligomerization of ethylene has high catalytic activity, high selectivity for the target products 1-hexene and 1-octene, and low selectivity for 1-butene and 1-C.sub.10.sup.+.