Activation of carbon–hydrogen bonds and dihydrogen by 1,2-CH-addition across metal–heteroatom bonds

Abstract

The controlled conversion of hydrocarbons to functionalized products requires selective C–H bond cleavage. This perspective provides an overview of 1,2-CH-addition of hydrocarbons across d⁰ transition metal imido complexes and compares and contrasts these to examples of analogous reactions that involve later transition metal amide, hydroxide and alkoxide complexes with d⁶ and d⁸ metals.