Themed collection Earth Abundant Metals in Catalysis

Transformation of biomass to chemicals and fuels is a long-term goal in both science and industry. Here, we review the fast development and recent advances of 3d-metal-based catalysts including Cu, Fe, Co, Ni and Mn in lignocellulosic biomass conversion.

The promising aspects of iron in synthetic chemistry are being explored for three-four decades as a green and eco-friendly alternative to late transition metals. This present review unveils these rich iron-chemistry towards different transformations.

This review provides insights on how enzymatic reactivity tricks such as redox-active ligands, entatic state reactivity, electron bifurcation, and quantum tunneling can benefit chemists in the design of bioinspired catalytic systems.

Iron and cobalt complexes are at the origin of high valuable synthetic pathways involving radical intemediates.

Copper catalysts enable cross-coupling reactions of unactivated alkyl electrophiles to generate C–C and C–X bonds.

Atlas as a Titan(ium) is holding the earth-abundant chemistry world. Titanium is the second most abundant transition metal, is a key player in important industrial processes (e.g. polyethylene) and shows much promise for diverse applications in the future.

Recent developments in (photo)electrochemical CO₂ reduction combining Fe, Ni, and Co molecular complexes and (semi)conductive materials have led to high catalytic performances.

This review provides an overview of the catalytic activity of iron complexes of nitrogen ligands in driving carbene transfers towards CC, C–H and X–H bonds. The reactivity of diazo reagents is discussed as well as the proposed reaction mechanisms.

This review summarizes fundamental challenges and recent advances in the design of photoactive and luminescent mononuclear transition metal complexes with Earth-abundant metal ions as sustainable alternatives to precious metal ions.