Paired interacting orbitals (PIO) study of molybdena-alumina system active in alkene metathesis

Ethene metathesis on molybdena-alumina catalyst is investigated by using the paired interacting orbitals (PIO) theory. It is shown that the PIO analysis is a convenient tool for both qualitative and quantitative description of the process. It is concluded that the total overlap population can be a reactivity index for olefin metathesis catalysts.