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Organometallic chemistry

C–H activation

A Correction to this article was published on 28 March 2007

The stability of the chemical bonds in saturated hydrocarbons makes them generally unreactive. But the invention of processes in which carbon–hydrogen (C–H) bonds in hydrocarbons can be activated is allowing chemists to exploit organic compounds in previously unimaginable ways.

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Figure 1: Saturation in hydrocarbons.
Figure 2: Mechanisms for C–H activation reactions.

Further Reading

  1. Arndtsen, B. A., Bergman, R. G., Mobley, T. A. & Petersen, T. H. Acc. Chem. Res. 28, 154–162 (1995).

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  2. Labinger, J. A. & Bercaw, J. E. Nature 417, 507–514 (2002).

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  3. Periana, R. A. et al. J. Mol. Catal. A: Chem. 220, 7–25 (2004).

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  4. Labinger, J. A. J. Mol. Catal. A: Chem. 220, 27–35 (2004).

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  5. Goldberg, K. I. & Goldman, A. S. (eds) Activation and Functionalization of C–H Bonds (ACS Symp. Ser. 885, Am. Chem. Soc., Washington DC, 2004).

  6. Tobisu, M. & Chatani, N. Angew. Chem. Int. Edn 45, 1683–1684 (2006).

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Bergman, R. C–H activation. Nature 446, 391–393 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/446391a

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