Cooperating Ligands in Catalysis

Abstract

Let's stick together: Cooperating ligands participate directly in bond activation and thereby undergo a reversible chemical transformation. The interplay between metal center and ligand may facilitate a chemical process. In transition-metal-catalyzed reactions, this concept allows the discovery of new chemical reactions, such as the dehydrogenative coupling of primary alcohols and primary amines to amides and molecular hydrogen (see scheme).