Mechanistic Studies in Homogeneous Catalysis

Dear Colleagues,

During the last few decades, we have been privileged witnesses of the outstanding developments of synthetic organic methods, based in transition-metal catalysed processes or in organocatalysis. Fascinating and synthetically relevant new molecules have been obtained thanks to the progress achieved with Pd- or Au-catalyzed C–C coupling reactions, or through C–H bond activation strategies, to mention two very well known reactions. However, behind a synthetically important pathway, there must be a precise knowledge of its mechanism in order to get perfect control of the reaction parameters and their optimization. The present requirements of our society are based in chemical processes that must display high performance and selectivity, complete atom economy and minimal waste, using smooth conditions to save energy, and being, in summary, as green as possible. It is obvious that none of these conditions can be fulfilled in the absence of a detailed knowledge of the reaction mechanisms: determination of transient species and transition states, measurement of activation barriers, detection of rate-limiting steps, resting states of the catalysts, and so on.

This Special Issue of Catalysts is entirely devoted to recent achievements in mechanistic studies in homogeneous catalysis: from metal-promoted reactions to organocatalytic processes, in batch or flow reactors, covering the formation of C–C and C–heteroatom bonds, and using different tools, such as spectroscopic methods and/or DFT calculations.

Dr. Esteban P. Urriolabeitia
Dr. Pedro Villuendas
Guest Editors

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• Homogeneous catalysis
• C–C coupling
• C–H activation
• Organocatalysis
• Photoredox catalysis
• Radical Reactions
• Computational Methods
• Spectroscopic Methods