In order to meet the ever-increasing demands for enantiopure compounds, heteroge- ous, homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis evolved independently in the past. Although all three approaches have yielded industrially viable processes, the latter two are the most widely used and can be regarded as complementary in many respects. Despite the progress in structural, computational and mechanistic studies, however, to date there is no universal recipe for the optimization of catalytic processes. Thus, a trial-and-error approach remains predominant in catalyst discovery and optimization. With the aim of complementing the well-established fields of homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis, organocatalysis and artificial metalloenzymes have enjoyed a recent revival. Artificial metalloenzymes, which are the focus of this book, result from comb- ing an active but unselective organometallic moiety with a macromolecular host. Kaiser and Whitesides suggested the possibility of creating artificial metallo- zymes as long ago as the late 1970s. However, there was a widespread belief that proteins and organometallic catalysts were incompatible with each other. This severely hampered research in this area at the interface between homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis. Since 2000, however, there has been a growing interest in the field of artificial metalloenzymes for enantioselective catalysis. The current state of the art and the potential for future development are p- sented in five well-balanced chapters. G. Roelfes, B. Feringa et al. summarize research relying on DNA as a macromolecular host for enantioselective catalysis.

Troy Townsend's thesis explores the structure, energetics and activity of three inorganic nanocrystal photocatalysts. The goal of this work is to investigate the potential of metal oxide nanocrystals for application in photocatalytic water splitting, which could one day provide us with clean hydrogen fuel derived from water and solar energy. Specifically, Townsend's work addresses the effects of co-catalyst addition to niobium oxide nanotubes for photocatalytic water reduction to hydrogen, and the first use of iron oxide 'rust' in nanocrystal suspensions for oxygen production. In addition, Townsend studies a nickel/oxide-strontium titanate nanocomposite which can be described as one of only four nanoscale water splitting photocatalysts. He also examines the charge transport for this system. Overall, this collection of studies brings relevance to the design of inorganic nanomaterials for photocatalytic water splitting while introducing new directions for solar energy conversion.

The activation of dioxygen by metal ions has both synthetic potential and biological relevance. Dioxygen is the cleanest oxidant for use in emission-free technologies to minimize pollution of the environment. The book gives a survey of those catalyst systems based on metal complexes which have been discovered and studied in the last decade. They activate molecular oxygen and effect the oxidation of various organic compounds under mild conditions. Much of the recent progress is due to a search for biomimetic catalysts that would duplicate the action of metalloenzymes. Mechanistic aspects are emphasized throughout the book. An introductonary chapter reviews the chemistry of transition metal dioxygen complexes, which are usually the active intermediates in the catalytic reactions discussed. Separate chapters are devoted to oxidation of saturated, unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, catechols, oxo-compounds, phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen compounds.

Giovanni Poli, Guillaume Prestat, Fr d ric Liron, Claire Kammerer- Pentier: Selectivity in Palladium Catalyzed Allylic Substitution.- Jonatan Kleimark and Per-Ola Norrby: Computational Insights into Palladium-mediated Allylic Substitution Reactions.- Ludovic Milhau, Patrick J. Guiry: Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective allylic substitution.- Wen-Bo Liu, Ji-Bao Xia, Shu-Li You: Iridium- Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylic Substitutions.- Christina Moberg: Molybdenum- and Tungsten-Catalyzed Enantioselective Allylic Substitutions.- Jean-Baptiste Langlois, Alexandre Alexakis: Copper-catalyzed enantioselective allylic substitution.- Jeanne- Marie Begouin, Johannes E. M. N. Klein, Daniel Weickmann, B. Plietker: Allylic Substitutions Catalyzed by Miscellaneous Metals.- Barry M. Trost, Matthew L. Crawley: Enantioselective Allylic Substitutions in Natural Product Synthesis.

This book provides researchers in the fields of organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis with an overview of significant recent developments in the area of metal-ligand cooperativity, with a focus on pincer architectures. The various contributions highlight the widespread impact of M-L co-operativity phenomena on modern organometallic chemistry and catalyst development. The development of efficient and selective catalytic transformations relies on the understanding and fine control of the various elementary reactions that constitutes a catalytic cycle. Co-operative ligands, which actively participate in bond making and bond breaking together to the metal they support, open up new avenues in this area. In particular, buttressing a weak or reactive metal-ligand bond by flanking coordinating arms in a pincer ligand design is proving a versatile strategy to access robust metal complexes that exhibit unusual and selective reactivity patterns.

Multi-scale Quantum Models for Biocatalysis explores various molecular modelling techniques and their applications in providing an understanding of the detailed mechanisms at play during biocatalysis in enzyme and ribozyme systems. These areas are reviewed by an international team of experts in theoretical, computational chemistry, and biophysics.

This book presents detailed reviews concerning the development of various techniques, including ab initio molecular dynamics, density functional theory, combined QM/MM methods, solvation models, force field methods, and free-energy estimation techniques, as well as successful applications of multi-scale methods in the biocatalysis systems including several protein enzymes and ribozymes.

This book is an excellent source of information for research professionals involved in computational chemistry and physics, material science, nanotechnology, rational drug design and molecular biology and for students exposed to these research areas."

Atomically dispersed metal cations and small polyatomic cationic structures co-ordinated to the surface of porous matrices exhibit different properties from the same cationic species contained in a bulk oxide or supported on amorphous carriers. This subject is treated to an extensive review, showing how an understanding of it is essential to the development of a new generation of solid catalysts. There are also exciting opportunities to shape the catalytic properties of the transition metal cations in microporous and mesoporous matrices. The book covers both theoretical and experimental aspects, including the distribution of framework Al atoms in Si-rich zeolites, distribution and siting of charge-exchanged metal cations, electronic, adsorptive and catalytic properties of metal cations, and correlation of metal cation structure and siting with catalytic activity.

Green Chemistry is an inventive science based on fundamental research towards the development of new sustainable chemical processes. There is a great need to create a new type of chemistry focused on a new production system, in order to prepare the younger generation to get a greener future.

The globalization pushes the chemistry community to adopt ethical issues. In this prospect Green Chemistry can achieve the approval of the society by teaching students to be confident in science and at the same time by convincing people that it is possible to attain technological development with respect and care for the environment we live in. This is why it is of foremost importance that education and fundamental research remain strictly connected, so that democracy and development can grow and progress side by side.

This book has been prepared to extend the knowledge of Green Chemistry not disregarding, however, the industrial interest. It is the result of the effort to put together and share the expertise of leading practitioners in the field of Green Chemistry.

The Interuniversity Consortium 'Chemistry for the Environment' is a non-profit organisation established in 1993 in Italy. At present it includes 31 member universities and 80 research units.

This book presents an in-depth study into the utility of -bond metathesis in Group 2 mediated reactivity. A comprehensive introduction defines the state of the art in both Group 2 mediated catalysis and dehydrocoupling. Structural investigations giving rise to a range of mixed s-block metal hydrides including a remarkable dodecabimetallic decahydride are then described. Subsequent extensive mechanistic work focussing on both silicon-nitrogen and boron-nitrogen dehydrocoupling gives insights into both congeneric effects down Group 2 and ligand effects centring upon magnesium. These studies show the striking effects of these factors, as well as the electronic nature of the hydridic coupling partner. Finally, the unprecedented introduction of single-electron transfer steps into Group 2 catalytic manifolds is described. The use of the stable radical TEMPO to induce single-electron transfer to substituents bound to Group 2 centres coupled with -bond metathesis allows a novel hydrogen release from silanes.

In the area of organic chemistry one major challenge we are currently faced with is how to assemble potentially useful molecules in new ways that generate molecular complexity and in sequences that are as efficient as possible. Our efforts in this regard, specifically for the preparation of amino containing compounds incorporating an aromatic ring, are described in this doctoral thesis. We discovered an interesting regioselectivity in an intramolecular Heck reaction, which we studied for a series of substrates that are unbiased in terms of the size of the newly formed ring, where very high levels of selectivity in relation to the new carbon-carbon bond are typically observed. DFT calculations were performed to attempt to shed light on the reaction sequence. This regioselective Heck reaction, combined with the reductive removal of the temporary amino-protecting group, allowed us to synthesize the Sceletium alkaloids: mesembrane, mesembranol and mesembrine.

There is an increasing challenge for chemical industry and research institutions to find cost-efficient and environmentally sound methods of converting natural resources into fuels chemicals and energy. Catalysts are essential to these processes and the Catalysis Specialist Periodical Report series serves to highlight major developments in this area. This series provides systematic and detailed reviews of topics of interest to scientists and engineers in the catalysis field. The coverage includes all major areas of heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis and also specific applications of catalysis such as NOx control kinetics and experimental techniques such as microcalorimetry. Each chapter is compiled by recognised experts within their specialist fields and provides a summary of the current literature. This series will be of interest to all those in academia and industry who need an up-to-date critical analysis and summary of catalysis research and applications. Catalysis will be of interest to anyone working in academia and industry that needs an up-to-date critical analysis and summary of catalysis research and applications. Specialist Periodical Reports provide systematic and detailed review coverage in major areas of chemical research. Compiled by teams of leading experts in their specialist fields, this series is designed to help the chemistry community keep current with the latest developments in their field. Each volume in the series is published either annually or biennially and is a superb reference point for researchers. www.rsc.org/spr

The union of covalent and noncovalent chemistries manifested in the mechanical bond represents one of the great chemical triumphs of the last half century. However, until recently, the preparation of mechanically interlocked compounds has often been an inefficient and limiting process. This thesis provides a detailed account of the great strides taken to increase the synthetic accessibility of donor-acceptor mechanically interlocked molecules by the application of highly efficient and ultra mild chemical transformations during their template-directed synthesis. These new departures in synthesis have indeed played a transformative role in that more complex, higher-order, and functional architectures - once only a dream - are now comfortably within reach. Specifically, the formation of mechanical bonds in higher order rotaxanes and catenanes has become ever easier through the use of highly efficient click chemistries. The resulting mechanically interlocked compounds are functional molecular media for a host of applications including information storage, mechanical actuation, and drug release.

The series Topics in Current Chemistry presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in modern chemical research. The scope of coverage is all areas of chemical science including the interfaces with related disciplines such as biology, medicine and materials science.The goal of each thematic volume is to give the non-specialist reader, whether in academia or industry, a comprehensive insight into an area where new research is emerging which is of interest to a larger scientific audience.Each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years are presented using selected examples to illustrate the principles discussed. The coverage is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the field or include large quantities of data, but should rather be conceptual, concentrating on the methodological thinking that will allow the non-specialist reader to understand the information presented. Contributions also offer an outlook on potential future developments in the field.Review articles for the individual volumes are invited by the volume editors.Readership: research chemists at universities or in industry, graduate students

Polyolefin is a major industry that is important for our economy and impacts every aspect of our lives. The discovery of new transition metal-based catalysts is one of the driving forces for the further advancement of this field. Whereas the classical heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts and homogeneous early transition metal metallocene catalysts remain the workhorses of the polyolefin industry, in roughly the last decade, tremendous progress has been made in developing non-metallocene-based olefin polymerization catalysts. Particularly, the discovery of late transition metal-based olefin polymerization catalysts heralds a new era for this field. These late transition metal complexes not only exhibit high activities rivaling their early metal counterparts, but more importantly they offer unique properties for polymer architectural control and copolymerization with polar olefins. In this book, the most recent major breakthroughs in the development of new olefin polymerization catalysts, including early metal metallocene and non-metallocene complexes and late transition metal complexes, are discussed by leading experts. The authors highlight the most important discoveries in catalysts and their applications in designing new polyolefin-based functional materials.

Written by a team of internationally recognized experts, this book addresses the most important types of catalytic reactions and catalysts as used in industrial practice. Both applied aspects and the essential scientific principles are described. The main topics can be summarized as follows: heterogeneous, homogeneous and biocatalysis, catalyst preparation and characterization, catalytic reaction engineering and kinetics, catalyst deactivation and industrial perspective.

This book presents specific key natural and artificial systems that are promising biocatalysts in the areas of health, agriculture, environment and energy. It provides a comprehensive account of the state of the art of these systems and outlines the significant progress made in the last decade using these systems to develop innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. Chapters from expert contributors explore how natural enzymes and artificial systems tackle specific targets such as: climate change, carbon footprint and economy and carbon dioxide utilisation; nitrogen footprint and fixation and nitrous oxide mitigation; hydrogen production, fuel cells and energy from bacteria; biomass transformation and production of added-value compounds, as well as biosensors development. This book provides an important and inspiring account for the designing of new natural and artificial systems with enhanced properties, and it appeals not only to students and researchers working in the fields of energy, health, food and environment, but also to a wider audience of educated readers that are interested in these up-to-date and exciting subjects.Chapter "Carbon Dioxide Utilisation-The Formate Route" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The demand for selective organic reactions is growing more acute everyday. Indeed, greater product selectivity has an important impact on energy and resource utilization, in terms of reduced process energy requirements for product separation and purification, in terms of low-value by-products, and in terms of environmental acceptance and compatibility. Moreover, more and more chemicals, especially pharmaceuticals, have to be sold in an optically active form. The search for selectivity constitutes a tremendous challenge for the chemists. In the last two decades, homogeneous transition metal based catalysis has emerged as one of the most promising tools for obtaining selectivity. In connection with developments in this area, this book contains updated and expanded versions of most of the lectures presented at a Cornett course held in Trieste (Italy) in 1989 and sponsored by the European Community. A primary aim is to cultivate a deeper understanding of the parameters that govern the selectivities and stimulate a wider utilization of transition metal based catalysis in organic synthesis. All aspects of selectivity, chemo-, regio-, stereo- and enantioselectivity are considered and illustrated by applications in various fields or organic synthesis. The impact of catalysis in oxydation, reduction, carbonylation reactions, carbene chemistry, in Ni and Pd promoted dimerizations, oligomerizations as well as fonctionalisations is stressed, quite often with special emphasis laid on reaction mechanisms. In this aspect, the last chapter examplifies the interest of high pressure NMR and IR when investigating the nature of reaction intermediates in homogeneous reactions.

Since the discovery of ferrocene and the sandwich-type complexes, the development of organometallic chemistry took its course like an avalanche and became one of the scientific success stories of the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this development, the traditional boundaries between inorganic and organic chemistry gradually disappeared and a rebirth of the nowadays highly important field of homogeneous catalysis occurred. It is fair to say that despite the fact that the key discovery, which sparked it all off, was made more than 50 years ago, organometallic chemistry remains a young and lively discipline.

Carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions are the backbone of synthetic organic chemistry. Scientists are constantly developing and improving these techniques in order to maximize the diversity of synthetically available molecules. These techniques must be developed in a sustainable manner in order to limit their environmental impact. This book highlights green bond forming reactions for bioactive scaffolds.

In response to significant developments in sensor science and technology, this book offers insight into the various extended applications and developments of N4 macrocycle complexes in biomimetic electrocatalysis. Chapters are devoted to the chemistry, electronic and electrochemical properties of porphyrin- based polymetallated supramolecular redox catalysts and their applications in analytical and photoelectrochemical molecular devices; the use of porphyrins, phthalocyanines and related complexes as electrocatalysts for the detection of a wide variety of environmentally polluting and biologically relevant molecules; and the use of electropolymerized metalloporphyrin and metallophthalocyanine films as powerful materials for analytical tools, especially for sensing biologically relevant species.

Homogeneous hydrogenation is one of the most thoroughly studied fields of homogeneous catalysis. The results of these studies have proved to be most important for an understanding of the underlying principles of the activation of small molecules by transition metal complexes. During the past three decades homogeneous hydrogenation has found widespread application in organic chemistry, including the production of important pharmaceuticals, especially where a sophisticated degree of selectivity is required. This volume presents a general account of the main principles and applications of homogeneous hydrogenation by transition metal complexes. Special attention is devoted to the mechanisms by which these processes occur, and the role of the recently discovered complexes of molecular hydrogen is described. Sources of hydrogen, other than H2, are also considered (transfer hydrogenation). The latest achievements in highly stereoselective hydrogenations have made possible many new applications in organic synthesis. These applications are documented by giving details of the reduction of important unsaturated substrates (alkenes, alkynes, aldehydes and ketones, nitrocompounds, etc.). Hydrogenation in biphasic and phase transfer catalyzed systems is also described. Finally, a discussion of the biochemical routes of H2 activation highlights the similarities and differences in performing hydrogenation in both natural and synthetic systems. For researchers working in the fields of homogeneous catalysis, especially in areas such as pharmaceuticals, plastics and fine chemicals.

The series Topics in Organometallic Chemistry presents critical overviews of research results in organometallic chemistry. As our understanding of organometallic structure, properties and mechanisms increases, new ways are opened for the design of organometallic compounds and reactions tailored to the needs of such diverse areas as organic synthesis, medical research, biology and materials science. Thus the scope of coverage includes a broad range of topics of pure and applied organometallic chemistry, where new breakthroughs are being achieved that are of significance to a larger scientific audience. The individual volumes of Topics in Organometallic Chemistry are thematic. Review articles are generally invited by the volume editors. All chapters from Topics in Organometallic Chemistry are published OnlineFirst with an individual DOI. In references, Topics in Organometallic Chemistry is abbreviated as Top Organomet Chem and cited as a journal.

This book shows the different molecular devices used for solar energy conversion and storage and the important characterization techniques for this kind of device. It has five chapters describing representative molecule-based solar cells, such as organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells and hybrid solar cells (perovskite solar cell and quantum dots solar cells). It also includes two chapters demonstrating the use of molecular devices in the areas of solar fuel, water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. There are further two chapters with interesting examples of solar energy storage related devices, like solar flow battery, solar capacitor and solar energy-thermal energy storage. Three chapters introduce important techniques used to characterize, investigate and evaluate the mechanism of molecular devices. The final chapter discusses the stability of perovskite solar cells. This book is relevant for a wide readership, and is particularly useful for students, researchers and industrial professionals who are working on molecular devices for solar energy utilization.

Bismuth Catalysts in Aqueous Media, by Shu Kobayashi, Masaharu Ueno and Taku Kitanosono.- Pentavalent Organobismuth Reagents in Organic Synthesis: Alkylation, Alcohol Oxidation and Cationic Photopolymerization , by Yoshihiro Matano.- Environmentally Friendly Organic Synthesis Using Bismuth(III) Compounds, by Scott W. Krabbe and Ram S. Mohan.- Bismuth-Catalyzed Addition of Silyl Nucleophiles to Carbonyl Compounds and Imines, by Thierry Ollevier.- Bismuth Salts in Catalytic Alkylation Reactions, by Magnus Rueping and Boris J. Nachtsheim.- New Applications for Bismuth(III) Salts in Organic Synthesis: From Bulk Chemicals to Steroid and Terpene Chemistry, by J. A. R. Salvador, S. M. Silvestre, R. M. A. Pinto, R. C. Santos and C. Le Roux.- Cationic Bismuth-Catalyzed Hydroamination and Direct Substitution of the Hydroxy Group in Alcohols with Amides, by Shigeki Matsunaga and Masakatsu Shibasaki.- Transition-Metal Catalyzed C-C Bond Formation Using Organobismuth Compounds, by Shigeru Shimada and Maddali L. N. Rao.- Bismuth(III) Salts as Synthetic Tools in Organic Transformations, by J. S. Yadav, Aneesh Antony and Basi V. Subba Reddy.

The importance of solid base catalysts has come to be recognized for their environmentally benign qualities, and much significant progress has been made over the past two decades in catalytic materials and solid base-catalyzed reactions. The book is focused on the solid base. Because of the advantages over liquid bases, the use of solid base catalysts in organic synthesis is expanding. Solid bases are easier to dispose than liquid bases, separation and recovery of products, catalysts and solvents are less difficult, and they are non-corrosive. Furthermore, base-catalyzed reactions can be performed without using solvents and even in the gas phase, opening up more possibilities for discovering novel reaction systems. Using numerous examples, the present volume describes the remarkable role solid base catalysis can play, given the ever increasing worldwide importance of "green" chemistry. The reader will obtain an overall view of solid base catalysis and gain insight into the versatility of the reactions to which solid base catalysts can be utilized. The concept and significance of solid base catalysis are discussed, followed by descriptions of various methods for the characterization of solid bases, including spectroscopic methods and test reactions. The preparation and properties of base materials are presented in detail, with the two final chapters devoted to surveying the variety of reactions catalyzed by solid bases.