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Presenting recent developments in the field, this volume examines the use of well-defined, single-site catalysts to convert alkanes to more functionalized molecules. Chapters discuss metal medited alkane carbonylation, catalytic carbon-boron bond formation, alkane dehydrogenation, and more.

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Over the past decade, much research effort has been devoted to the design and synthesis of new reagents and catalysts that can influence carbon-hydrogen bond activation, mainly because of the prospect that C-H activation could enable the conversion of cheap and abundant alkanes into valuable functionalized organic compounds.

Alkane C-H Activation by Single-Site Metal Catal ysis presents the current state-of-the-art development in the catalytic systems for the catalytic trans-formations of alkanes under homogeneous conditions. Chapter 1 offers a comprehensive summary of the main discoveries realized so far. Chapter 2 reviews the so-called electrophilic activation, initiated by Shulpín in the late 60s, and the base for the Catalytica system. Chapter 3 examines the catalytic borylation of alkanes, discovered by Hartwig, whereas chapter 4 provides an updated vision of the alkane dehydrogenation reaction. Chapter 5 covers the oxygenation of C-H bonds, a field of enormous interest with bioinorganic im-plications, and finally chapter 6 presents the functionalization of alkane C-H bonds by carbene or nitrene insertion.

The history of C-H bond activation, and the current research described in this book, highlight the current research and present the reader with an outlook of this field which continues to be explored by an increasingly visionary and enthusiastic group of organic, organometallic, biological and physical chemists.

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Foreword by Robert G. Bergman (University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA).- Introduction: Alkane C-H Activation by Single-Site Metal Catalysis by T. Brent Gunnoe (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA).- Alkane Functionalization via Electrophilic Activation by Jay A. Labinger (Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA).- Catalytic Carbon-Boron Bond Formation via Activation of Alkane C-H Bonds by Chulsung Bae (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA).- Alkane Dehydrogenation by Michael Findlater, Jongwook Choi, Alan S. Goldman and Maurice Brookhart Rutgers (The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA).- Alkane C-H Oxygenation Catalyzed by Transition Metal Complexes by Anna Company, Julio Lloret, Laura Gómez, Miquel Costas (Universitat de Girona, Spain).- Alkane Catalytic Functionalization by Carbene or Nitrene Insertion Reactions by M. Mar Díaz-Requejo, Ana Caballero, Manuel R. Fructos, Pedro J. Pérez (Universidad de Huelva, Spain).

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