Group VIII Metal Difluorocarbene Complexes: Synthesis and Applications

The use of metal catalysts to modulate the generation and reactivity of carbenes has offered a powerful tool for construction of functional molecules. The design and synthesis of relevant transition-metal difluorocarbene complexes have benefited the development and interpretation of transition-metal catalyzed difluorocarbene transfer reactions. Although many achievements have been made in difluorocarbene chemistry, it is still a challenging task to make use of transition-metal difluorocarbenes in synthetic chemistry. To aid interested readers in better understanding the reactivity of transition-metal difluorocarbene species and designing catalytic methods for transfer of difluorocarbene intermediates, we summarize the advances of group VIII metal difluorocarbene complexes. Details include the preparation and properties of these complexes as well as their involvement in organic synthesis.