有機金属化学に関わる金属-硫黄クラスターによる小分子の活性化および変換反応

抄録

Organometallic complexes have proven to be useful in synthetic organic chemistry over the decades. Their definition is molecular compounds with metal-carbon interaction(s) or precursors. Typically, organometallic compounds are prone to hydrolysis, and thereby they have been considered to be less compatible with biological environments, where water is abundant. On the other hand, the past few decades have witnessed the structural identification of metal-sulfur clusters with metal-carbon bond(s) in the active sites of enzymes, which reduce small substrates such as N₂, protons, and CO₂. The structure-function relationship of such “organometallic” metal-sulfur clusters would provide clues to develop a new class of catalysts for the transformation of small molecules, including organic substrates. In this review article, we summarize recent progress in the reaction chemistry of metal-sulfur clusters, with particular emphasis on the reduction and transformation of N₂, CO₂, and small organic molecules.