Recent Uses of Iron Catalysts in Organic Reactions

Iron catalysts are extensively used in organic reactions in recent years since iron is one of the most abundant metals on earth, consequently one of the most inexpensive, and environmentally friendly ones, and many iron salts and complexes are commercially available. This comprehensive review attempts to cover the advances of iron-catalyzed organic reactions in the literature from 2007 to Sept 2009, particularly focusing on the formation of carbon-carbon bond. Simultaneously, the iron-catalyzed formation of carbon- heteroatom and heteroatom- heteroatom bond also are commented briefly.