Researchers discover how a nanocatalyst works at the atomic level

Researchers of the Nanoscience Center (NSC) at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Xiamen University, China, have discovered how copper particles at the nanometer scale operate in modifying a carbon-oxygen bond when ketone molecules turn into alcohol molecules. Modification of the carbon-oxygen and carbon-carbon bonds found in organic molecules is an important intermediate stage in catalytic reactions in which the source material is changed into valuable end products.