Categories: Organic Chemistry >> Organometallics >> Transition Metals

Transition Metals for Organic Synthesis

Description

The top editors -- Beller/Bolm -- have put together an international team of over 70 renowned authors, including two Nobel laureates, to guarantee first-class contributions in these two volumes. Readers in academia or working in fine chemical production will find here rapid access to this thorough and indispensable compendium.

Editorial Review

Transition metal catalysis makes possible a great many selective and atom-economical transformations. The number of publications that have appeared in this area has become truly enormous. Several of the transformations that were long unknown in daily laboratory practice, such as Ring Closure Metathesis, have undergone spectacular refinements over the past few decades.

It may seem nearly impossible to do justice to this field in the space of just 1314 pages. However, "Transition Metals for Organic Synthesis" achieves an impressive balance between the breadth and depth of coverage. All of the most important fields are addressed, such as C-C coupling, N-arylation, carbonylation, oxidation and reduction. The subtitle "Building Blocks and Fine Chemicals" conveys the idea that the choice of methods is based upon suitability for industrial requirements. Thus, problematic transformations such as the Stille Coupling with organotins go completely unmentioned, while the field of C-C coupling is well exemplified with appropriate methods.

Summaries of individual transformations cover the features of the most important methods (e.g. various reaction conditions, different catalysts) in the span of a few pages. Depending upon the contributing author, these summaries can include a discussion of the reaction mechanism, or a historical survey. The book is thus an interesting read for those who wish to obtain a general overview of the most important transition metal-catalyzed reactions. The brevity of the chapters on specific reaction types enables the reader to acquire the fundamentals rapidly, and provides a useful steppingstone for further exploration of the literature.

Review by Reza Fallahpour

The book "Transition Metals for Organic Synthesis" describes some basic aspects of the organic chemistry of metal catalysts, and their application to the synthesis of building blocks and fine chemicals. This collective work is presented in 61 chapters authored by renowned scientists, beginning with a fantastic overview of the basic aspects of metal catalysts given by B.M. Trost.

In Nature, living creatures use the power of metals for both synthesis and energy transfer. To mimic Nature, special tools (catalysts) are needed, and these must be designed and synthesised. The design of these catalysts is challenging and requires extensive know-how. Nowadays, metal catalysts are being used in almost every field of chemistry, and applications in industry are on the increase, even at the production level.

This book begins with the basic aspects and concepts regarding the use of transition metals. The initial chapters provide extensive discussion of the application of transition metals in some of the fields of hydroformylation, hydrocarboxylation, the synthesis of alkenes and alkynes, and cyclopropanation. The topics of palladium and titanium catalysed C-C-coupling reactions occupy the next chapters, followed by palladium-catalysed C-N coupling reactions. Later chapters describe the catalytic activity of lanthanides, bismuth and iron, to be followed by oxidation and reduction reactions. In addition, the role of different reaction media and energisation methods (microwave and high pressure) is discussed.

These two volumes give overviews of metal catalyst applications for different reactions under various conditions. With this in mind, it covers nearly all of the important and interesting reactions in the field of synthesis. Certainly, it is not possible to mention each of the reactions in detail when dealing with such a breadth of topics. However, the concepts are very well discussed and presented, and it is exactly for that reason that I strongly recommend this book to all chemists working in organic synthesis. However, this book might be challenging for undergraduate students to understand.

Both editors pose the question in preface, "Is there really a need for a second edition of this book?" This reviewer's emphatic answer is, "Yes, there is." The material in nearly all of the chapters has been re-examined and updated. Only a few of the contributors from the first edition have not updated their sections. While unfortunate, this is the only perceived lack in this second edition.

In any case, this two-volume work is recommended for obtaining a thorough overview of the applications of metals in organic synthesis.

Contents

VOLUME I: FORMATION OF CARBON-CARBON BONDS

Concepts for the Use of Transition Metals in Industrial Fine Chemical Synthesis
Hydroformylation - Applications in the Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals
Multiple Carbon-Carbon Bond Formations under Hydroformylation Conditions
The Amidocarbonylation of Aldehydes
Cyclopropanation
Isomerization of Olefin and the Related Reactions
Suzuki Reaction
Transition Metal-Catalyzed Arylation of Amines and Alcohols
Heck Reaction
Palladium-Catalyzed Allylic Substitutions
Fischer-Type Carbene Complexes
Chromium-Arene Complexes

VOLUME II: REDUCTIONS-OXIDATIONS

Homogeneous Hydrogenations
Heterogeneous Hydrogenations
Transferhydrogenations
Hydrosilylations
Oxidations of C-H Compounds Catalyzed by Metal Complexes
Metal-Catalyzed Baeyer-Villiger Reactions
Asymmetric Aminohydroxylation - Recent Developments
Rhenium-Catalyzed Epoxidations
Wacker-Type Oxidations
Two-Phase Catalysis
Transition Metal Catalysis under High Pressure in Liquid Phase
Transition Metal Catalysis using Ionic Liquids