Homogeneous Catalysis of Organic Reactions by Transition Metal Complexes

Abstract

The proceedings of a symposium on oxygen activation held at Texas A & M University, March 1987, have been published in a book, Oxygen Complexes and Oxygen Activation by Transition Metals ⁽¹⁾ The abstracts of the 4th International Symposium on Organometallic Chemistry Directed Towards Organic Synthesis, held at Vancouver, July 1987, have appeared in a special issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry ⁽²⁾ ; they include contributions on chiral catalysis, carbonylations, oxidation-reduction reactions, and stereospecific cross-coupling reactions. A review on metal clusters in catalysis deals with homogeneous and heterogenized systems,⁽³⁾ and another describes the hydroformylation, hydroesterification, hydrocarboxylation, and amidocarboxylation of fluoroolefins and fluoroalkyl halides.⁽⁴⁾ Reviews have appeared to mark the appearance of Volume 50 of Journal of Molecular Catalysis, dealing with supported metals and supported organometallics,⁽⁵⁾ and with the advantages and disadvantages of organometallic complexes as catalyst precursors, using mainly the nickel-catalyzed butene dimerization and ethylene oligomerization as examples.⁽⁶⁾ Recent results on the mechanism of the FischerTropsch reaction based on (C₅Me₅)Rh complexes have been summarized.⁽⁷⁾ The role of metal carbalkoxy complexes in the carbonylations of dienes and halides as well as the hydrogenation of CO has been discussed.⁽⁸⁾