UC Berkeley

Recently, the development of more sustainable catalytic systems based on abundant first-row metals, especially nickel, for organic transformations has attracted significant interest. This thesis describes the development of new synthetic methods for the preparation of two-coordinate complexes of a variety of first row transition metals. The physical and spectroscopic properties of these complexes are discussed and the reactivity and catalytic applications of these compounds are also explored. Species of this type are found to catalyze a variety of useful organic transformations using inexpensive metals and ligands.