One such class of catalyst systems, discovered and developed by the group of Jean-Marie Basset, comprises tantalum hydride supported on silica (SiO2)TaH at temperatures of 25°C to 200°C.
The Shell higher olefin process relies on beta-hydride elimination to produce alpha-olefins which are used to produce detergents.
In the 1980s he turned to the study of the interaction of dislocations with interstitial hydrogen, acting as a mobile point defect, and hence on reliable methods for electrolytically introducing H in the samples, controlling the occurrence of hydride precipitation.
Vanadocene was first prepared in 1954 by Birmingham, Fischer, and Wilkinson via a reduction of vanadocene dichloride with aluminum hydride, after which vanadocene was sublimed in vacuum at 100 ˚C.