Earth Abundant Catalysis

When compared to heavy metal catalysis, earth-abundant metal catalysis is praised for its inherent sustainability, low toxicity, and limited environmental effect. The variety of changes that earth-abundant metals may undergo, in addition to those of their precious metal counterparts, is something that is sometimes neglected. Recently, there has been a resurgence in interest in using elements that are abundant on Earth and may be more environmentally friendly for catalysis. Organometallic methods in organic chemistry have historically been dominated by precious metals like Ru, Rh, Ir, Pd, and Pt—at least in part because of their predictable and robust 2-electron reactivity patterns—despite the fact that many earth-abundant elements like Mn and Fe were investigated during the early years of the field. Contrarily, several main-group and first-row transition metals exhibit behaviour that is ostensibly more complex, showing a penchant for 1-electron chemistry, quick ligand exchange, simple spin crossover, or intricate solution-phase speciation.