Manganese-Catalyzed C-H Activation

Manganese is found in the active center of numerous enzymes that operate by an outer-sphere homolytic C-H cleavage. Thus, a plethora of bioinspired radical-based C-H functionalizations by manganese catalysis have been devised during the past decades. In contrast, organometallic C-H activation by means of manganese catalysis has emerged only recently as an increasingly viable tool in organic synthesis. These manganese(I)-catalyzed processes enabled a variety of C-H functionalizations with ample scope, which very recently set the stage for substitutive C- H functionalizations. The versatile manganese catalysis largely operates by an isohypsic, thus redox-neutral, mode of action through chelation assistance, and provided step-economical access to structurally divers compounds of relevance to inter alia bioorganic, agrochemical, and medicinal chemistry as well as the material sciences.