Noncovalent interactions in metal complex catalysis

Metal complex catalysis, in which coordination compounds are designed as catalysts for chemical transformations employing noncovalent interactions, is emerging as a powerful catalytic method for organic synthesis. One of the main advantages of metal catalysis is that coordination compounds can promote various organic transformations not only by coordination bond but also through noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen, halogen, chalcogen, pnictogen, tetrel and triel bonds, as well as metal-metal, cation-π, anion-π, lone pair-π, π-π stacking, agostic, pseudo-agostic, anagostic, dispersion-driven, lipophilic, etc., or their cooperation. In recent years, the concept of designing metal complex catalysts with noncovalent bond donor or acceptor sites has emerged as a promising strategy for developing selective catalytic transformations. In this review we discuss several recent relevant examples on the auxiliary/crucial role of noncovalent interactions in functionalization of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics, heterocycles, aldehydes, ketones and alcohols catalyzed by metal complexes.