Platinum and palladium complexes containing cationic ligands as catalysts for arene HID exchange and oxidation.

The direct functionalization of CH bonds has frequently been deemed a “Holy Grail” of organometallic chemistry.[1] A seminal example of this transformation was the demonstration by Shilov and co-workers that platinum(II) salts catalyze the direct oxidation of alkanes into their corresponding alcohols and alkyl halides.[2] Subsequent work in this area has focused on surveying diverse ligands for these reactions in an effort to enhance reactivity and selectivity, slow catalyst decomposition, and replace platinum(IV)-based oxidants with more cost-effective alternatives.[3–5] In a key development, chemists at Catalytica identified [bpymPtCl2] (bpym = bipyrimidine) as a pre-catalyst for the oxidation of CH4 into CH3OSO3H in fuming H2SO