Special Section: Organometallic Chemistry

The overview describes the industrial application of homogeneous catalysts for the chemical industry. In the first part, some theoretical background is given on organometallic complexes and homogeneous catalysis followed by a description of the prerequisites and current problems for their industrial application. Selected examples of industrially useful catalysts for the manufacture of bulk and fine chemicals are described for the following transformations: enantioselective hydrogenation, isomerization and epoxidation for producing enantiomerically enriched products; the application of the Heck reaction, the Suzuki and Sonogashira coupling and the carbonylation reaction for the manufacture of intermediates for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals; the application of the carbonylation technology for the large-scale production of acetic acid and butyraldehydes. In the last part, future prospects of the industrial application of homogeneous catalysis are briefly discussed.