Over the past decade, much research effort has been devoted to the
design and synthesis of new reagents and catalysts that can influence
carbon-hydrogen bond activation, mainly because of the prospect that C-H
activation could enable the conversion of cheap and abundant alkanes
into valuable functionalized organic compounds.
Alkane C-H Activation by Single-Site Metal Catalysis presents the
current state-of-the-art development in the catalytic systems for the
catalytic trans-formations of alkanes under homogeneous conditions.
Chapter 1 offers a comprehensive summary of the main discoveries
realized so far. Chapter 2 reviews the so-called electrophilic
activation, initiated by Shulpín in the late 60s, and the base for the
Catalytica system. Chapter 3 examines the catalytic borylation of
alkanes, discovered by Hartwig, whereas chapter 4 provides an updated
vision of the alkane dehydrogenation reaction. Chapter 5 covers the
oxygenation of C-H bonds, a field of enormous interest with bioinorganic
im-plications, and finally chapter 6 presents the functionalization of
alkane C-H bonds by carbene or nitrene insertion.
The history of C-H bond activation, and the current research described
in this book, highlight the current research and present the reader with
an outlook of this field which continues to be explored by an
increasingly visionary and enthusiastic group of organic,
organometallic, biological and physical chemists.
