Organometallic approaches to methane activation

Methane is the most abundant and the least reactive member of the hydrocarbon family. The lack of reactivity of methane stems from its unusually high C-H bond energy of 104 kcal/mol. In recent years, several organometallic systems have been discovered that effect the C-H bond cleavage of methane in solution under unusually mild conditions (<100°C). The organometallic approaches to methane activation in the solution phase can be divided into four broad categories: one-center oxidative addition, two-center oxidative addition, intermolecular electrophilic cleavage, and intramolecular electrophilic cleavage. A brief description of these categories is given in this paper.