Abstract: A solid catalyst material is evaporated from a coating on a transparent solid substrate and is condensed onto a solid polymeric organic catalyst carrier or into a liquid, by passing a laser beam through said solid transparent substrate and onto the back of said coating and contacting said catalyst carrier or liquid with the evaporated catalyst material. Suitably, the laser source is a ruby or a rhodamine dye laser; a suitable catalyst material is rhodium metal; and a suitable solid polymeric organic catalyst carrier is polystyrene crosslinked by divinyl benzene and a suitable liquid is aqueous polyvinyl alcohol. The process minimizes the exposure to heat of the catalyst carrier or suspending liquid.

Abstract: A process is provided for inducing a catalytic isomerization reaction. The process involves exposing to optical radiation a gaseous mixture including a reactant unsaturated hydrocarbon and a compound of a transition metal and a ligand. The gaseous transition metal compound is preferably a transition metal carbonyl.

Abstract: A process is provided for inducing a ligand substitution reaction. The process involves exposing to optical radiation a gaseous mixture including a compound of a transition metal and a first ligand and a gaseous second ligand. The gaseous transition metal compound is preferably a transition metal carbonyl.