Ana Escribano Cuesta's thesis presents a detailed study of the inter- and intramolecular reactions of carbonyl compounds with 1,6 -enynes using gold (I) complexes. An important part of the work involved streamlining the variables that allow the selective synthesis of different products such as tricyclic compounds, dihydropyrans, 1,3-dienes or cyclobutenes. The second chapter highlights the importance and difficulties in synthesising a cyclobutene subunit and the author includes a detailed description of how the products were prepared. The final chapter outlines the synthesis of lundurines using methodology developed by the author's research group for intramolecular gold-catalyzed cyclization of indoles with alkynes. The lundurine products developed in this work show significant in vitro cytoxicity toward B16 melanoma cells. The work in this thesis has led to a number of publications in high- profile chemistry journals.

Masakatsu Shibasaki, Motomu Kanai, Shigeki Matsunaga, and Naoya Kumagai: Multimetallic Multifunctional Catalysts for Asymmetric Reactions.- Takao Ikariya: Bifunctional transition metal-based molecular catalysts for asymmetric syntheses.- Chidambaram Gunanathan and David Milstein: Bond Activation by Metal-Ligand Cooperation: Design of Green Catalytic Reactions Based on Aromatization-Dearomatization of Pincer Complexes.- Madeleine C. Warner, Charles P. Casey, and Jan-E. Backvall: Shvo s Catalyst in Hydrogen Transfer Reactions.- Noritaka Mizuno, Keigo Kamata, and Kazuya Yamaguchi: Liquid-Phase Selective Oxidation by Multimetallic Active Sites of Polyoxometalate-Based Molecular Catalysts.- Pingfan Li and Hisashi Yamamoto: Bifunctional Acid Catalysts for Organic Synthesis.- Jun-ichi Ito, Hisao Nishiyama: Bifunctional Phebox Complexes for Asymmetric Catalysis."

Structure, Bonding, and Reactivity of Reactant Complexes and Key Intermediates, by Elena Soriano and Jose Marco-Contelles.-

Cycloisomerization of 1, "n"-Enynes Via Carbophilic Activation, by Patrick Yves Toullec and Veronique Michelet.-

DFT-Based Mechanistic Insights into Noble Metal-Catalyzed Rearrangement of Propargylic Derivatives: Chirality Transfer Processes, by Olalla Nieto Faza and Angel R. de Lera.-

"N"-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes of Au, Pd, and Pt as Effective Catalysts in Organic Synthesis, by Andrea Correa, Steven P. Nolan and Luigi Cavallo.-

Activation of Allenes by Gold Complexes: A Theoretical Standpoint, by Max Malacria, Louis Fensterbank and Vincent Gandon.-

Heterocyclization of Allenes Catalyzed by Late Transition Metals: Mechanisms and Regioselectivity, by Benito Alcaide, Pedro Almendros, Teresa Martinez del Campo, Elena Soriano and Jose Marco-Contelles.-

Gold-Catalyzed Cycloadditions Involving Allenes: Mechanistic Insights from Theoretical Studies, by Sergi Montserrat, Gregori Ujaque, Fernando Lopez, Jose L. Mascarenas and Agusti Lledos.-

"

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 in 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.

While the organometallic chemistry of the d-block transition elements has been a flourishing field for the past 25 years, it has only been in the last several years that dramatic activity and progJ'ess has occurred in the area of lanthanide and actinide organometallic chemistry. The f. -element organometallic research effort has been truly multinational and multidisciplinary. In a large number of countries, sCientists have become increasingly interested in the synthesis, reactivity, spectroscopy, and the molecular and electronic structures of f-element organometallic compounds. The backgrounds of these scientists range from organic, inorganic, nuclear, and catalytic chemistry to chemical and nuclear physics. The motivations for the study of f-element organometallics have been equally varied. In the area of basic research, there has been a growing realization that the lanthanides and actinides represent two unique and, to a great extent, neglected families of elements in which many fascinating aspects of chemistry and bonding remain to be explored. On a more practical level, an increasing number of these elements play important roles in nuclear energy production and in industrial catalytic processes. It has become apparent that efficiency and safety in both areas could greatly benefit from increased knowledge. In the past there has been no suitable international forum available for bringing together researchers in the diverse areas of f-element organometallic science mentioned above.

Lucas Montero de Espinosa and Michael A. R. Meier: Olefin Metathesis of Renewable Platform Chemicals.- Pieter C. A. Bruijnincx, Robin Jastrzebski, Peter J. C. Hausoul, Robertus J. M. Klein Gebbink, and Bert M. Weckhuysen: Pd-Catalysed Telomerisation of 1,3-Dienes with Multifunctional Renewable Substrates - Versatile Routes for the Valorisation of Biomass-Derived Platform Molecules.- A Behr, A. J. Vorholt: Hydroformylation and related reactions of renewable resources.- Ties J. Korstanje, Robertus J.M. Klein Gebbink: Catalytic oxidation and deoxygenation of renewables with rhenium complexes.- Antoine Buchard, Clare M. Bakewell, Jonathan Weiner and Charlotte K. Williams: Recent Developments In Catalytic Activation Of Renewable Resources For Polymer Synthesis.

Reactions of Pyridines, Benzopyridines and Azapyridines with Organomagnesiums and Organolithiums, by Manfred Schlosser

Lithiations and Magnesiations on Quinoline and Isoquinoline, by Floris Chevallier, Florence Mongin

Metalation Reactions of Pyridines, Quinolines, and Isoquinolines with Ate Bases and Their Alkali Metal Salt-Modified Congeners, by Costa Metallinos, Kathryn Stromski

Lithiations and Grignard Reactions on Pyrimidine and Quinazoline, by Andrej Kolarovic

Other Stoichiometric Metalation Reactions on Pyrimidine and Quinazoline, by Philippe C. Gros

Metalation of Pyrazine and Quinoxaline, by Nelly Ple1, Corinne Fruit

Metalation of Pyridazine, Cinnoline, and Phtalazine, by Ernst Horkel

"

Kyle A. Grice, Margaret L. Scheuermann and Karen I. Goldberg: Five-Coordinate Platinum(IV) Complexes.- Jay A. Labinger and John E. Bercaw: The Role of Higher Oxidation State Species in Platinum-Mediated C-H Bond Activation and Functionalization.- Joy M. Racowski and Melanie S. Sanford: Carbon-Heteroatom Bond-Forming Reductive Elimination from Palladium(IV) Complexes.- Helena C. Malinakova: Palladium(IV) Complexes as Intermediates in Catalytic and Stoichiometric Cascade Sequences Providing Complex Carbocycles and Heterocycles.- Allan J. Canty and Manab Sharma: h1-Alkynyl Chemistry for the Higher Oxidation States of Palladium and Platinum.- David C. Powers and Tobias Ritter: Palladium(III) in Synthesis and Catalysis.- Marc-Etienne Moret: Organometallic Platinum(II) and Palladium(II) Complexes as Donor Ligands for Lewis-Acidic d10 and s2 Centers.

According to R.H. Crabtree, Metal Dihydrogen and sigma-Bond Complexes is described as 'the definitive account of twentieth-century work in the area of sigma complexation'. It covers not only Kubas' discovery of dihydrogen coordination and the study of its structure and general properties but also discusses both the theoretical beliefs and experimental results of bonding and activation of dihydrogen on metal centers and the coordination and activation of C-H, B-H, X-H, and X-Y bonds, giving an overview of 'one of the hottest areas in chemistry'.

The present book is based on the work of M.N.Bochkarev, G.S.Kalinina, L.N. zakharov and S.Ya.Khorshev. The Russian edition of that book appeared under the same title in 1989 and covered literature data up to the middle of 1986. Since that time the number of publications on this subject increased significantly. In this volume we include all the data published up to the end of 1990, as well as some of the most important relevant articles of 1991. Therefore, this book should be considered as a new book, devoted to the same problems, rather than as just a translation of the mentioned issue. This book deals with compounds of scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and lanthanoids containing direct metal-carbon bond, Le. with the real organometallic complexes of these metals. Besides, the volume includes the rare earth complexes, in which organic ligand is bonded to the metal atom via the atom of another element of the Periodic Table. In other words, the book includes all classes of rare earth organoderivatives. Carboxilates, fl-diketonates and related chelates are the exceptions, because their properties are closer to inorganic compounds and they were fully described elsewhere. It should be noted, that "rare earth elements," "rare earth metals," "lanthanoids" and related terms are used in this book for indicating scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and the following 14 elements of the Periodic Table.

Almost all branches of chemistry and material science now interface with organometallic chemistry--the study of compounds containing carbon-metal bonds. This widely acclaimed serial contains authoritative reviews that address all aspects of organometallic chemistry, a field that has expanded enormously since the publication of Volume 1 in 1964.

Key features:

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

The chemistry of transition metal carbyne complexes has become a highly attractive field during the past twenty years. In recent years its application to aspects of catalysis and metathesis has gained considerable interest from inorganic as well as organic chemists. In addition, organic synthesis by means of metal carbon multiple bond reagents offers the most sophisticated technology currently available. In consideration of these developments some of Professor E. O. Fischer's former coworkers and colleagues felt obliged to orga nize this NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Transition Metal Carbyne Complexes in the Bavarian Alps. They have been encouraged by the fact that most of the distinguished scientists in the field of metal-carbon multiple bond chemistry had finally agreed to participate and to present stimulating lectures. The organizers of the workshop are deeply grateful to the Scientific Affairs Division of the NATO for the generous financial support of the meeting in Wildbad Kreuth and for the preparation of this book. They also feel indebted to acknowledge the generous support from Wacker-Chemie, BASF, Peroxid-Chemie, Hoechst and Bayer. Finally they thank the staff of the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung in Wildbad Kreuth for providing a pleasant and stimu lating atmosphere during the meeting."

Juan I. Padron and Victor S. Martin: Catalysis by means of Fe-based Lewis acids; Hiroshi Nakazawa*, Masumi Itazaki: Fe-H Complexes in Catalysis; Kristin Schroder, Kathrin Junge, Bianca Bitterlich, and Matthias Beller: Fe-catalyzed Oxidation Reactions of Olefins, Alkanes and Alcohols: Involvement of Oxo- and Peroxo Complexes; Chi-Ming Che, Cong-Ying Zhou, Ella Lai-Ming Wong: Catalysis by Fe=X Complexes (X=NR, CR2); Rene Peters, Daniel F. Fischer and Sascha Jautze: Ferrocene and Half Sandwich Complexes as Catalysts with Iron Participation; Markus Jegelka, Bernd Plietker: Catalysis by Means of Complex Ferrates."

Janusz Lewi ski and Andrew E. H. Wheatley: Simple trivalent organoaluminum species: perspectives on structure, bonding and reactivity.- Stephan Schulz: Organoaluminum complexes with bonds to s-block, p-block, d-block, and f-block metal centers.- Samuel Dagorne and Christophe Fliedel: Low valent organoaluminium (+I, +II) species.- Rudolf Wehmschulte: Organoaluminum species in homogeneous polymerization catalysis.- Paul Knochel, Tobias Blumke, Klaus Groll and Yi-Hung Chen: Preparation of Organoalanes for Organic Synthesis.- Yuki Naganawa and Keiji Maruoka: Reactions Triggered by Lewis Acidic Organoaluminum Species.- Usein M. Dzhemilev and Vladimir A. D'yakonov: Hydro-, Carbo- and Cycloalumination of Unsaturated Compounds.- Andreas Kolb and Paultheo von Zezschwitz: Organoaluminum Couplings to Carbonyls, Imines and Halides.- Oscar Pamies and Montserrat Dieguez: Conjugate Addition of Organoaluminum Species to Michael Acceptors and Related Processes.

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.

217 2. COPOLYMERIZATION OF PROPENE OR HIGHER I-ALKENES WITH 218 CARBON MONOXIDE 2. 1. Ligands and polymerization conditions 218 2. 2. Spiroketal formation 221 2. 3. Enantioselectivity 222 2. 4. Higher I-Alkenes 226 3. COPOLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE OR ITS DERIVATIVES WITH 226 CARBON MONOXIDE 4. COPOLYMERIZATION OF OTHER OLEANS WITH CARBON MONOXIDE 230 5. ASYMMETRIC TERPOLYMERIZATION OF MORE THAN Two KINDS OF 232 OLEFINS WITH CARBON MONOXIDE 6. POLYKETONE CONFORMATION 233 7. CONCLUSION 234 Chapter 8. Chain Propagation Mechanisms 237 Ayusman Sen 1. INTRODUCTION 237 2. PALLADIUM (II) BASED SYSTEMS 238 3. NICKEL (II) BASED SYSTEMS 256 4. RHODIUM (I) BASED SYSTEMS 257 5. CONCLUSION 261 Chapter 9. Theoretical Studies on Copolymerization of Polar Monomers 265 Peter Margl, Artur Michalak, and Tom Ziegler 1. INTRODUCTION 265 2. COPOLYMERIZATION OF CARBON MONOXIDE WITH ETHYLENE 267 2. 1. Experimental and calculated rates for the insertion processes for 267 copolymerization catalysed by Pd(II) systems. 2. 2. A more detailed look at the productive and unproductive cycles 270 in copolymerization catalysed by Pd(II) complexes. 2. 2. 1. The productive cycle 270 2. 2. 2. C2H4 misinsertion into an ethylene terminated polyketone 275 chain 2. 3. Experimental and calculated rates for the insertion processes for 277 alternating copolymerization catalyzed by Ni(II) systems 3. COPOLYMERIZATION OF OLEFINS WITH POLAR MONOMERS OTHER 280 THAN CO 3. 1. Preferred binding mode of oxygen containing monomers 282 3. 2. Preferred binding mode of nitrogen containing monomers 285 3. 3.

Homogeneous catalysis plays an important role both in the laboratory and in the industry. Successful applications in industry involve new polymerisation processes with complexes of zirconium and related metals, new carbonylation processes employing palladium and rhodium, ring opening polymerisations, and new enantioselective isomerisation catalysts as in the preparation of menthol. Also in the synthesis of organic compounds in the laboratory highly selective homogeneous catalysts represent an irreplaceable part of the toolbox of the synthetic chemist. Examples of such reactions are cross-coupling (Ni, Pd), nucleophilic substitution of allylpalladium complexes, Heck reactions (Pd), asymmetric epoxidation, Wacker type reactions (Pd), asymmetric hydrogenations (Rh, Ru), reactions of chromium complexes, enantioselective reactions with Lewis acids, reactions with the McMurry reagent, etc. There is hardly any multistep organic synthesis that does not involve one of these metal catalysed reactions. Most of these catalysts have been developed by empiricism. The metal catalysed processes consist of a series of elementary steps which often have been studied in isolation in organometallic chemistry. The knowl- edge of such elementary steps - effect ofligands, anions, coordination number, valence states - has greatly contributed to the development of improved cata- lysts for the reactions mentioned above. In addition to the empirical approach theoretical methods have given support and guidance to the development of improved processes. Often the key steps of a cycle escape from a direct ob- servation and then theoretical contributions are even more wanted.

This is the first book to comprehensively address the recent developments in both the experimental and theoretical aspects of quasi-one-dimensional halogen-bridged mono- (MX) and binuclear metal (MMX) chain complexes of Pt, Pd and Ni. These complexes have one-dimensional electronic structures, which cause the various physical properties as well as electronic structures. In most MX-chain complexes, the Pt and Pd units are in M(II)-M(IV) mixed valence or charge density wave (CDW) states due to electron-phonon interactions, and Ni compounds are in Ni(III) averaged valence or Mott-Hubbard states due to the on-site Coulomb repulsion. More recently, Pd(III) Mott-Hubbard (MH) states have been realized in the ground state by using the chemical pressure. Pt and Pd chain complexes undergo photo-induced phase transitions from CDW to MH or metal states, and Ni chain complexes undergo photo-induced phase transitions from MH to metal states. Ni chain complexes with strong electron correlations show tremendous third-order optical nonlinearity and nonlinear electrical conductivities. They can be explained theoretically by using the extended Peierls-Hubbard model. For MMX-chain complexes, averaged valence, CDW, charge polarization, and alternating charge polarization states have been realized by using chemical modification and external stimuli, such as temperature, photo-irradiation, pressure, and water vapor. All of the electronic structures and phase transitions can be explained theoretically.

Contents: Gerard Jaouen, Nils Metzler-Nolte : Introduction ; Stephane GIBAUD and Gerard JAOUEN: Arsenic - based drugs: from Fowler's solution to modern anticancer chemotherapy; Ana M. Pizarro, Abraha Habtemariam and Peter J. Sadler : Activation Mechanisms for Organometallic Anticancer Complexes; Angela Casini, Christian G. Hartinger, Alexey A. Nazarov, Paul J. Dyson : Organometallic antitumour agents with alternative modes of action; Elizabeth A. Hillard, Anne Vessieres, Gerard Jaouen : Ferrocene functionalized endocrine modulators for the treatment of cancer; Megan Hogan and Matthias Tacke : Titanocenes - Cytotoxic and Anti-Angiogenic Chemotherapy Against Advanced Renal-Cell Cancer; Seann P. Mulcahy and Eric Meggers : Organometallics as Structural Scaffolds for Enzyme Inhibitor Design; Christophe Biot and Daniel Dive : Bioorganometallic Chemistry and Malaria; Nils Metzler-Nolte : Biomedical applications of organometal-peptide conjugates; Roger Alberto : Organometallic Radiopharmaceuticals; Brian E. Mann : Carbon Monoxide - an essential signaling molecule.

The scope of this paper is to recall fundamental notions of the molecular spectroscopy and dynamics, necessary for discussion of photophysical and photochemical processes in condensed phases. We will thus treat in a more detailed way the specific features which are important for molecular systems strongly interacting with their environment. Other aspects such as the time evolution of isolated molecules, single-level excitation and state-to-state chemistry, important for the gas-phase photophysics are omitted. We start (Sec.2) with a brief description of radiative processes (light absorption and emission) in molecules. In the quantum-mechanical treatment of this problem, the appropriate basis is that of so-called zero-order states, corresponding to the traditional scheme of electronic states (singlets, doublets, triplets etc.) and vibrational levels belonging to each state. The important point will be deduction of selection rules for most radiative transitions. At this stage all molecular states are considered as stationary states. In order to treat the breakdown of simple selection rules and non-radiative transitions between individual molecular states, it is necessary to take into account the mechanisms coupling the zero-order states (Sec.3). We will first focus on intramolecular coupling effects and then discuss the solvent effects on intramolecular relaxation processes. The problem of the non-radiative transfer of the electronic energy between different molecules - closely related to that of the energy dissipation within a single molecule will be treated in Sec.4.

An overview of modern organometallic thermochemistry, made by some of the most active scientists in the area, is offered in this book. The contents correspond to the seventeen lectures delivered at the NATO ASI Energetics of Organometallic Species (Curia, Portugal, September 1991), plus three other invited contributions from participants of that summer school. These papers reflect a variety of research interests, and discuss results obtained with several techniques. It is therefore considered appropriate to add a few preliminary words, attempting to bring some unity out of that diversity. In the first three chapters, results obtained by classical calorimetric methods are described. Modern organometallic thermochemistry started in Manchester, with Henry Skinner, and his pioneering work is briefly surveyed in the first chapter. The historical perspective is followed by a discussion of a very actual issue: the trends of stepwise bond dissociation enthalpies. Geoff Pilcher, another Manchester thermochemist, makes, in chapter 2, a comprehensive and authoritative survey of problems found in the most classical of thermochemical techniques - combustion calorimetr- applied to organometallic compounds. Finally, results from another classical technique, reaction-solution calorimetry, are reviewed in the third chapter, by Tobin Marks and coworkers. More than anybody else, Tobin Marks has used thermochemical values to define synthetic strategies for organometallic compounds, thus indicating an application of thermochemical data of which too little use has been made so far.

The analogy between the chemistry of molecular transition metal clusters and the processes of chemisorption and catalysis at metal surfaces (the Cluster Surface analogy) has for a number of years provided an interplay between experimental and theoretical inorganic and physical chemists. This collaborative approach has born fruit in the use of well defined modes of metal-ligand bonding in discrete molecular clusters, models for metal-ligand binding on surfaces. Some of the key topics discussed in The Synergy between Dynamics and Reactivity at Clusters and Surfaces are: (1) Mechanisms of the fluxional behaviour in clusters in the liquid phase and the connections with diffusion processes on extended surfaces. The role of metal-metal bond breaking in diffusion. (2) Analogies in the structure of chemisorbed species and related ligands on metallic clusters. (3) Analogies between benzene surface chemistry on extended metal surfaces and on metal surfaces in molecular cluster compounds with particular reference to structural distortions. (4) The role of mobile precursors for dissociation of chemisorption on extended metals and on clusters. Are there analogies in the ligand attachment during cluster compound synthesis? (5) The role of defect sites on metal surfaces in catalyzing chemical reactions and the connection to the special bonding properties of sites on metal clusters having lowest metal-metal coordination. (6) The size of metal clusters needed to mimic surface phenomena on bulk metal surfaces. Different sites needed for different phenomena.

Zeolites, with their crystalline microporous structures, are cordial hosts to a wide variety of guests. However, it was the abrupt and unexpected departure of one of these guests (water) from a host (stilbite) on heating which led Cronstedt, in 1756, to coin the term "zeolite" (from the Greek meaning "boiling stone") to describe this material. Since that time, approximately 40 different naturally-occurring zeolites have been discovered on earth. Recent studies of meteorite compositions have shown that these guest-host materials (e. g. , sodalite) occur in other parts of the universe as well. However, it wasn't until the twentieth century that synthetic routes to zeolites and other non-aluminosilicate molecular sieves were discovered. In addition, with the development of X-ray diffraction and the various spectroscopies, better understanding of the nature of the cavities, cages, and channels of these materials has led to the industrial exploitation of their guest-host properties. The world of zeolites has now expanded into a greater than 2 billion pound per year business, with major applications in detergent formulations, catalysis, and as adsorbents and desiccants. Their economic impact is difficult to determine; however, the improvement in gasoline yields alone (from catalytic cracking) must account for hundreds ofbillions ofdollars in increased GDP. In this volume, we have brought together a sampling of recent developments in various areas of guest-host or inclusion chemistry in zeolites.

In the last 15 years aqueous organometallic chemistry and catalysis has emerged from being a laboratory curiosity to become an established field of research. Topics reviewed here include mechanistic studies on the effect of water on catalyzed reactions, the preparation of water soluble phosphines as ligands for catalysis, metal catalyzed organic reactions in water (hydrogenation, hydroformylation, carbonylation, olefin metathesis, hydrophosphination, etc.), chiral ligands and enantioselective catalysis, organometallic radical photochemistry in aqueous solutions, bioorganometallic chemistry, organometallic reactions of biopolymers, and catalytic modification of biomembranes. The summary of recent results is supplemented by an assessment of probable future research trends. Audience: Researchers in both academia and industry, as well as graduate students of homogeneous catalysis.

Born and initially developed in various industrial laboratories, mainly in U.S.A. and Gennany, homogeneous phase catalytic carbon monoxide hydrogenation and alcohols and their derivatives carbonylation and homologation, have generally been considered and reviewed separately in the course of their 40 years history without concern for common aspects in the chemical transfonnations and in catalysis. Thanks to researchers of Japanese companies participating in the National C 1 Chemistry Project (1980-1987) the scientific and technical approaches in this field have been unified and applied in parallel, in the light of some common aspects of the chemical reactions and mechanisms. Now, at a moment when research seems becahned, a general presentation and discussion of the most recent topics might be an useful basis for further development of this chemistry. To delimit and simplify the discussion of the chemical aspects and the nature of the catalysts involved, the present review is limited to reactions employing homogeneous metal complexes for the direct conversion of syngas to oxygenates and to the hydrocarbonylation of these last to homologous derivatives. Since the previous practically contemporary reviews by Dombek [in Adv. Organomet. Chern. (1983)] on CO hydrogenation and by the present authors [in Asp.Homog.Catal.(Reidel Pu.l984)] on alcohol homologation fully cover the literature up to 1982, here we mainly refer to work done after 1982, and consider the cited reviews as covering the historical development of research in the 1940- 1980 period.