2081.     ---------------.  [LEFEBVRE, H., AND LECLERC, G.]  [Iron Catalysts in the Synthesis of Motor Spirit by Hydrogenation of Carbon Monoxide.]  Compt. rend., Cong. chim. ind., 18th Cong., Nancy, September-October 1938, pp. 725-730; Chem. Abs., vol. 33, 1939, p. 6019.

        Fischer synthesis can be carried out with Fe catalysis, those that are most frequently recommended containing small quantities of another metal together with alkali salts.  Fe is active under two forms:  magnetite and cubical Fe₂O₃, the latter producing much higher yields than the former.  The presence of alkali is indispensable for the formation, under the conditions of the catalysis, of cubical Fe₂O₃; in the absence of alkali, only magnetite is stable.  The function of the metal other than Fe is to facilitate the reduction that terminates the preparation of the catalyst and to favor the adsorption of a certain amount of the alkali salt during the preparation of the catalyst, thereby aiding indirectly in the formation of cubical Fe₂O₃.