Selective C-H Activation: Ruthenaelectro-Catalysis and Carborane Cage Activation

Abstract

Synthetic organic chemistry mainly focuses on the cleavage and formation of bonds in a practical and selective fashion, where the formation of carbon-carbon (C-C) and C-Heteroatom (C Het) bonds constitutes one of the most important subjects. During the last century, great progress has been made in organic synthesis, with considerable applications to pharmaceutical industry, materials chemistry, and crop protection filed among others. However, the environmental issues associated with organic synthesis are inevitable in terms of chemical waste and toxic reagents. Therefore, significant attention has been paid to the development of sustainable strategies for molecular assembly in terms of both the economic and environmental benefits. In 1988, Anastas and Warner introduced the twelve principles of green chemistry as guidelines for minimizing the environmental footprint of chemical syntheses. According to these guidelines, the application of catalysis to organic chemistry is essential to increase the economic benefits and reduce waste formation by avoiding stoichiometric amounts of metal-based catalysts, oxidants or reductants.