More importantly, the analysis of ethylene binding and dehydrogenation on Pt7Ge2C2 provides key insights into the underlying mechanism responsible for the run-to-run stability of Pt7Ge2. The ΔEC2H4 values of Pt7Ge2C2 range from -1.79 eV to -1.33 eV, which are very similar to those of Pt7Ge2. The similar ethylene binding affinity between Pt7Ge2C2 and Pt7Ge2, as well as their similar geometries (Fig. ), suggests that even in the presence of small amount of coke, the Ge-doped catalyst can maintain its activity and selectivity. The ΔE(C-H) values for Pt7Ge2C2 are also relatively high, ranging from 2.04 eV to 1.39 eV. The combined effects of its relatively weak ΔEC2H4 and high ΔE(C-H) values indicate a strong preference for desorption over dehydrogenation, i.e., coking might be expected to self-limit at ~2 C atoms/cluster, as is observed experimentally. On pristine alumina the CO binding energy, ΔECO, is roughly -0.61 eV (Fig. ). As expected, the binding strength of CO across all clusters is stronger than that of ethylene. This is consistent with the shift in the high-temperature desorption feature to higher temperatures in CO TPD (Figs. ) compared to the ethylene TPD (Figs. ). As expected, CO was found to bind exclusively to Pt atoms in all of the stable binding modes across all clusters.