The upsurge in development of homogeneous catalysis in both aca- demic and industrial areas has prompted us to organize the Second Interna- tional Workshop at Shiga, Japan, 1977. The objective of this workshop was similar to that of the first: to identify opportunities for the solution of energy problems and industrial production problems by homogeneous catalysis. This workshop on homogeneous catalysis was sponsored by the Toray Science Foundation, the Yoshida Foundation for Science and Technology, the Yamada Science Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. The Robert A. Welch Foundation Grant A-420 partially supported the time spent by M. Tsutsui for the organization of the workshop and the edi- torial work of these proceedings. Organizing Committee, April, 1978 Jack Halpern (U.S.A.) Yoshio Ishii Oapan) Jiro Tsuji Oapan) Minoru Tsutsui (U.S.A.) Akio Yamamoto Oapan) v Contents Metal Clusters in Catalysis XVII: Catalytic Hydrocarbon Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 E.L. Muetterties Cluster Catalysis: Homogeneous Catalytic Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide and of Ketones with Molecular Oxygen Using Complexes of Rhodium(O), Iridium(I), and Platinum(O). . . . . . 11 D.M. Roundhill Metal Carbonyl Catalysis of Carbon Monoxide Reactions. . . . . . . . . . 25 . R.B. King, A.D. King, Jr., M.Z. Iqbal, C.C. Frazer and R.M. Hanes Activation of Saturated Hydrocarbons by Ruthenium(I) Complexes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . Brian R. James and Daniel K.W. Wang Oxidative Addition to Metal Atoms: Mechanism, Use of Resultant Reactive RMX and R2M Species in Homogeneous Catalysis Processes and Metal Atom-Alkane Interactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . .