Chapter 11: Catalytic Reactions Using Metal Complexes

In this chapter, we will first review the elementary reactions involved in organic ligand transformations at transition metal complexes, which include oxidative addition, reductive elimination, insertion, elimination, nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions on the organic ligand, alkene and alkyne metathesis, and σ-bond metathesis. These are the reactions that characterise the chemistry of organometallic complexes, and this is the reason why organometallic complexes are used as catalysts for a variety of synthetic organic reactions. We will next discuss some typical examples of catalytic organic transformations and their catalytic mechanisms performed by transition metal complexes, such as hydrogenation, hydrosilylation, cross-coupling, and industrial reactions including hydroformylation, the Monsanto/Cativa process, and alkene polymerization. Furthermore, catalytic reactions related to energy conversion have been attracting increasing attention in recent years. To shed light on this topic, electrochemical catalytic generation of oxygen and hydrogen, photoreduction of CO₂, and catalytic nitrogen fixation will also be discussed.