Organometallic Transition Metal Catalysis: A Holistic Approach to Understanding and Predicting their Mechanisms

In 1987 as a young assistant Professor at Harvard University I was assigned to teach Organometallic Chemistry (CHEM 105) to Graduate students and Seniors. Having never taught before I remember reading an article by my PhD supervisor, Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson about his time at Harvard where he discussed a similar problem. “So, gathering what was then the inorganic bible, Sidgwick’s, The Chemical Elements and their Compounds, as well as Pauling’s, Nature of the Chemical Bond, the book I had been brought up on at Imperial College, Emeleus and Anderson’s, Modern Aspects’ of Inorganic Chemistry, and whatever else was available, such as, Yost, Russell and Garner’s books on rare earths and the Groups V and VI elements, I set to work to be at least one lecture ahead of the students.” (G. Wilkinson, The iron sandwich. A recollection of the first four months, J. Organometal. Chem., 1975, 100, 273-278). Taking his lead, I got my copy of the book I had been brought up on at Imperial College, the inorganic bible, Cotton and Wilkinson, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry: A Comprehensive Text, I also attempted to be at least one lecture ahead of the students. Over the next seven years the course evolved with practice. Moving to Rice University in 1995, I taught Transition Metal Chemistry, (CHEM 495) on my own for several years, and that gave me the luxury to develop the topics and methods for teaching the subject. It was decided that Lon Wilson and I would team teach the course. While, Lon spent 6 weeks teaching nothing but porphyrin chemistry (I do not exaggerate), it was up to me in the remaining 6 weeks to teach all of organometallic chemistry. This increased my focus since I realized that it was not necessary to teach everything, if the students could be made to understand the concepts and then apply them. The concept of teaching a pared down course has been developed further in teaching Transition Metal Catalysis as a guest lecturer at Swansea University for my good friend and longtime collaborator Simon Bott, who is at the forefront of the ‘flipped’ method of teaching. Hence the approach taken in this book, not to provide a Comprehensive Text like Cotton and Wilkinson (or as it now is, Cotton, Wilkinson, Murillo and Bochmann) and more of a Hitchhikers Guide to Organometallic Catalysis (apologies to the late Douglas Adams). It is the results of this journey that are covered in the present book.