Iron Catalysis

Juan I. Padrón and Víctor S. Martín: Catalysis by means of Fe-based Lewis acids; Hiroshi Nakazawa*, Masumi Itazaki: Fe–H Complexes in Catalysis; Kristin Schröder, 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); René 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.

Iron Catalysis: Design and Applications is an exciting new book that takes readers inside the world of iron catalysis guided by international catalysis expert, Dr Jose M Palomo. Iron is the most abundant metal in the planet, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, with an easily manipulated remediation process. In the last few years the use of this nonprecious metal has gained extraordinary attention particularly for its potential as a catalyst in different areas. This book compiles a series of chapters describing the most significant advances in the last few years since the design of different iron catalysts and nanocatalysts and iron-containing artificial and natural enzymes. The chapters also cover its application in different areas of interest such as organic synthesis, environmental remediation, enzyme-like activities or the creation of novel types of electrodes for battery design.

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.

Juan I. Padrón and Víctor S. Martín: Catalysis by means of Fe-based Lewis acids; Hiroshi Nakazawa*, Masumi Itazaki: Fe–H Complexes in Catalysis; Kristin Schröder, 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); René 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.

This first comprehensive book to cover this exciting field also deals with the biological aspects, such as enzymes with iron. Following an introduction, this handy reference and handbook goes on to deal with reductions, oxidations of C, H- and C=C bonds, oxidative allylic oxygenation and amination, the oxidation of heteroatoms, cross coupling reactions, aromatic and nucleophilic substitutions, addition to carbonyl compounds, and cyclisations as well as ring opening reactions. The chapters are clearly classified according to the reaction type, allowing readers to quickly locate the desired information.

Iron catalysts in organic synthesis are strongly in demand because iron is non-toxic, inexpensive and the most abundant transition metal in the earth, although their use is still limited compared with that of rare, precious metals such as palladium, ruthenium and rhodium. This thesis describes the first practical example of iron catalysis in the carbon–hydrogen bond activation reaction to synthesized fused aromatic ring compounds. By using a unique combination of iron catalyst and dichloride oxidant, various kind of naphthalene and phenanthrene derivatives were synthesized via annulation reaction with alkynes including direct C–H bond activation process. This achievement opens the new possibility of low-valent iron catalysis and expands synthetic methods for a sustainable society.

Since the turn of the last century when the field of catalysis was born, iron and cobalt have been key players in numerous catalysis processes. These metals, due to their ability to activate CO and CH, haev a major economic impact worldwide. Several industrial processes and synthetic routes use these metals: biomass-to-liquids (BTL), coal-to-liquids (CTL), natural gas-to-liquids (GTL), water-gas-shift, alcohol synthesis, alcohol steam reforming, polymerization processes, cross-coupling reactions, and photocatalyst activated reactions. A vast number of materials are produced from these processes, including oil, lubricants, waxes, diesel and jet fuels, hydrogen (e.g., fuel cell applications), gasoline, rubbers, plastics, alcohols, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, feed-stock chemicals, and other alternative materials. However, given the true complexities of the variables involved in these processes, many key mechanistic issues are still not fully defined or understood. This Special Issue of Catalysis will be a collaborative effort to combine current catalysis research on these metals from experimental and theoretical perspectives on both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. We welcome contributions from the catalysis community on catalyst characterization, kinetics, reaction mechanism, reactor development, theoretical modeling, and surface science.

Considering the limited resources of our planet, earth-abundant elements will have to be explored increasingly in the future. This book highlights the uses of the most earth-abundant elements in catalysis and will be of interest to graduates, academic researchers and practitioners in catalysis.