Summary

investigate the principles that are fundamental to dendrimeric transition metal catalysis and to develop potential applications of these dendrimeric systems. Other researchers within the project group focussed on periphery-functionalized dendrimeric catalysts. Well-known homogeneous catalysts have been anchored to the periphery of carbosilane dendrimers, after which these systems have been applied as catalysts in several important reactions.[1] In this thesis the approach of core-functionalized dendrimeric catalysts is explored, and a concise overview of the results is given here. In the introduction (Chapter 1) the history and the current state of dendrimeric transition metal catalysis are reviewed. The chapter includes a brief discussion of the position of dendrimeric catalysts in comparison with homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyst systems. Several concepts such as periphery-, core-, and focal point-functionalization are discussed. Furthermore, an overview of the reported application of dendrimeric transition metal catalysts in continuous processes and in asymmetric catalysis is presented. A closer look at the literature references shows that the majority of the reports on dendrimeric catalysis has appeared in the last five year, that is, since the initiation of the project reported in this thesis, which shows tha