PREFACE TO VOLUME 89

摘要

The Prefaces to Volumes 76, 80, and 84 highlighted the enormous impact of transition metal catalysis in synthetic organic chemistry. Three of the last 14 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have been awarded for the discovery and development of transition metal catalyzed reactions that fundamentally changed the practice of organic synthesis (2001: reduction/oxidation (Knowles, Noyori and Sharpless); 2005: olefin metathesis (Chauvin, Grubbs, Schrock); 2010: cross coupling (Heck, Negishi, Suzuki)). Of the 17 chapters published in the Organic Reactions series since the diamond anniversary Volume 75 (2011), 12 have involved transition metal catalyzed transformations! The impact of catalysis using transition metal complexes and reagents on the practice of synthetic organic chemistry cannot be overstated and continues to grow exponentially. In fact, the research in this field is so intense that the resulting literature quickly becomes too massive to compile in the comprehensive fashion characteristic of Organic Reactions.