Alkene Migratory Insertions and C-C Bond Formations

Alkene migratory insertion (equation 1) is a key elementary step in various catalytic cycles [1]. Insertion into an M-H bond, an essential Step in many catalytic cycles such as hydrogenation, converts an alkene into an alkyl group. Insertion of an alkene into an M-C bond results in C-C bond formation and is a key reaction in the chain-growth step of varietics of olefin polymerization processes such as Ziegler-Natta polymerization. Becausc of their importance, model alkene insertion reactions have been thcorctically extensively studied as will be discussed in this chapter, in order to clarify their reaction mechanisms and to obtain understanding of electronic factors that control the reactions. In this chapter we first discuss alkene coordination to a transition metal complex. In sections 3 and 4 the alkene migratory insertion into an M-H and an M-C bond, respectively, will be discussed. In section 5 theoretical studies of related insertions are shown. The last section is the summary.