Iron in Organometallic Transformations: A Sustainable Substitute for Noble Metals

Abstract

Transition metal catalysis plays a pivotal role in chemical synthesis. Noble metals often grab significant attention in organometallic catalysis due to their high reactivity. However, the serious issues associated with these metals such as low abundance, toxicity, geopolitical limitations, and volatile prices are driving the scientific community to discover sustainable alternatives. In this context, iron appears to be the first choice as an alternative metal due to its unique properties, including a range of stable oxidation states, Lewis acidity, high abundance in the earth's crust, and low toxicity. Over the past two decades, substantial progress has been made in iron catalysis. This overview examines the recent developments in iron‐catalyzed industrially relevant transformations such as hydroformylation, olefin isomerization, hydrosilylation, hydrophosphination, carbonylation, Wacker‐type oxidation, and plastic depolymerization. As witnessed throughout this review, the performance of iron can be significantly altered by suitable ligand selection and by tailoring the electronic and steric properties of the iron center. While noble metals remain the industry work‐horse, iron is inching closer and with extensive scientific understanding, it may replace noble metals in the near future.