Methane: a new frontier in organometallic chemistry

The base hydrocarbon of natural gas, methane, is one of the most unreactive hydrocarbons in terms of C-H bond dissociation enthalpy, ionization potential, and pK(a). A perspective on the C-H activation of this potent greenhouse gas, by homogeneous and well-defined organometallic complexes is presented, with an emphasis on several recent advances in this field.