Cascade Catalysis

Dear Colleagues,

“Cascade”, “tandem”, or “sequential” catalysis refers to domino processes that correspond to the concatenation between different catalytic cycles, in which the product of the first cycle becomes the substrate of the second catalytic cycle and so on. These processes represent a particular case of "cascade", "tandem", "domino", or "sequential" reactions, which are processes in which two or more chemical transformations take place under identical conditions, with the product obtained in the first transformation becoming the substrate of the subsequent transformation(s), eventually leading to the final product.

Although rather frequent in biological systems (where a substrate is subsequently transformed into the final metabolite through a sequence of biocatalytic steps promoted by different enzymes), tandem catalysis is still relatively rare in chemical systems. However, during recent years, it has acquired an increasing importance in organic synthesis. In fact, cascade catalytic processes combine the intrinsic advantages of a sequential transformation (the possibility to construct functionalized molecules in one step starting from simple and readily available building blocks, avoiding the isolation and purification of the intermediate(s) with evident practical advantages, in terms of efficiency, selectivity, as well as atom, step and energy economy) with those associated with a catalytic process (the possibility to perform an otherwise kinetically hindered reaction, under mild conditions and using only a small amount of a promoter species).

This Special Issue is devoted to recent developments in this very important and emerging area of research. The scope is broad, and includes the elaboration of novel catalysts for performing already known processes in a more efficient manner, as well as the development of new cascade catalytic methods for the synthesis of products of industrial interest and of fine chemicals, including bioactive compounds.

Prof. Dr. Bartolo Gabriele
Guest Editor

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• cascade catalysis
• homogeneous catalysis
• cascade reactions
• organic synthesis