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Abstract

In the past years the surface-science approach was successfully applied to elucidate the mechanisms of reactions in heterogeneous catalysis.[1] This approach is confined to well-defined single-crystal surfaces under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, which fails to mimic ‘real’ catalysis as the material and pressure conditions are different. The current development[2] addresses systems under more realistic conditions, namely nanoparticles under elevated pressures.[3] The problem of catalytic selectivity may now be investigated on the atomic level.[4] Simultaneously, the rapid progress in theory enables detailed insights into the structure and mechanisms of surface-catalyzed reactions.[5] The development of novel experimental techniques will enable studies with more complex systems also at the solid/liquid interface. Apart from the established scanning probe techniques optical methods are most promising in this respect. The technique of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy combines the atomic resolution of the STM with the high sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy so that vibrational spectra even from single molecules[6] or from picomole quantities of DNA nucleobases[7] may be recorded. Biological systems are frequently characterized by non-equilibrium microstructures and reactive soft-matter monolayers at surfaces will serve as models for these phenomena.[8]