My research focuses on improving the selectivity of supported metal catalysts by modifying them with alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Alkanethiol modified catalysts have been shown to dramatically increase the hydrogenation selectivity of 1-epoxy-3-butene, fatty acids, and a,b-unsaturated aldehydes through a combination of ligand specific and non-specific modifications to the near surface environment. Current work is focused on rational design of supported metal catalysts by tuning the surface modifiers to meet specific reaction goals.