The construction of a single-event microkinetic (SEMK) model for metal catalysis using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis as example reaction is addressed. SEMK's describe the full product distribution with a limited number of kinetic parameters. A computer algorithm is required to generate all the elementary steps and species of the reaction network. Reacting and intermediate species are represented with Boolean matrices and standardized labels. The adjustable model parameters are the atomic chemisorption enthalpies of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen on the metal surface and the single-event kinetic coefficients of the kinetically relevant reaction families
