Recent Advances in the Platinum-mediated CH Bond Functionalization

Platinum complexes have played an important role in our understanding the mechanisms of arene and alkane CH activation and developing catalytic methods for hydrocarbon CH functionalization. Knowledge of the factors controlling the reactivity of the metal center acquired over the past few years enabled significant progress in the field. Among the most challenging problems which have to be solved yet are i) the use of more readily available oxidants, ideally, oxygen from the air; ii) selective functionalization of CH bonds, iii) protection of the oxygenation products against overoxidation and iv) designing more water-tolerant systems. The most recent examples of platinum mediated catalytic functionalization of alkane and arene CH bonds in water and non-polar solvents, mechanistic studies of alkane and arene CH activation, computational and experimental design of new efficient platinum complexes are reported. The review covers mostly publications appeared in 2005-2006.