Patent ID: 7045479

Claim:
An intermediate precursor composition for use in manufacturing a supported catalyst having a controlled coordination structure, comprising: a plurality of catalyst atoms comprising at least one member selected from the group comprising noble metals, rare earth metals, and transition metals, and optionally one or more non-metals; and a control agent comprising a plurality of complexing molecules selected from the group comprising polymers, oligomers, and organic compounds, each complexing molecule having a plurality of functional groups disposed along a backbone for complexing the catalyst atoms to the complexing molecules, at least about 50% of the complexing molecules being straight-chained molecules that include at least four functional groups per molecule, and at least a portion of the complexing molecules forming a catalyst complex between the catalyst atoms and the complexing molecules, wherein the catalyst complex, after being applied to a support, forms a supported reactive catalyst comprising a support and a plurality of reactive catalyst particles formed from the catalyst complex, wherein the complexing molecules and catalyst atoms interact in such a way that a preponderance of catalyst atoms on an upper surface of supported reactive catalyst particles formed from the catalyst complex will have a nearest neighbor coordination number of 2.