Carbon–hydrogen bond activation

Carbon–hydrogen bond functionalization (C–H functionalization) is a type of reaction in which a carbon–hydrogen bond is cleaved and replaced with a carbon-X bond (where X is usually carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen). The term usually implies that a transition metal is involved in the C-H cleavage process. Reactions classified by the term typically involve the hydrocarbon first to react with a metal catalyst to create an organometallic complex in which the hydrocarbon is coordinated to the inner-sphere of a metal, either via an intermediate 'alkane or arene complex' or as a transition state leading to a 'M−C' intermediate. The intermediate of this first step (known as C-H activation and sometimes used interchangeably with C-H functionalization) can then undergo subsequent reactions to produce the functionalized product. Important to this definition is the requirement that during the C–H cleavage event, the hydrocarbyl species remains associated in the inner-sphere and under the influence of 'M'. Carbon–hydrogen bond functionalization (C–H functionalization) is a type of reaction in which a carbon–hydrogen bond is cleaved and replaced with a carbon-X bond (where X is usually carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen). The term usually implies that a transition metal is involved in the C-H cleavage process. Reactions classified by the term typically involve the hydrocarbon first to react with a metal catalyst to create an organometallic complex in which the hydrocarbon is coordinated to the inner-sphere of a metal, either via an intermediate 'alkane or arene complex' or as a transition state leading to a 'M−C' intermediate. The intermediate of this first step (known as C-H activation and sometimes used interchangeably with C-H functionalization) can then undergo subsequent reactions to produce the functionalized product. Important to this definition is the requirement that during the C–H cleavage event, the hydrocarbyl species remains associated in the inner-sphere and under the influence of 'M'.