Topic overview

Start with the big picture

Organometallic catalysts are important in homogeneous catalysis because their metal–ligand environments can be tuned to influence activity and selectivity. Industrial examples include Ziegler–Natta and Phillips catalysts for polyethylene, hydroformylation of alkenes, and metal-catalyzed routes to acetic acid and acetaldehyde. Other applications include olefin metathesis, cross-coupling for carbon–carbon and carbon–nitrogen bond construction, and asymmetric hydrogenation used to prepare enantiopure drug compounds. The topic also covers hydrosilylation, hydrocyanation, automotive catalytic converters, and the continuing role of stoichiometric reagents such as Grignard compounds. In medicine, it introduces platinum anticancer agents and points toward investigational ruthenium drugs, antimalarial development, and diagnostic imaging.