Generation of novel nucleophilic organometallic species and their applications to organic synthesis

Development of nucleophilic organometallic species plays an important role in organic synthesis, especially for construction of carbon skeletons. This account describes the following synthetic reactions with novel organometallic species: (1) Preparation of alkenylchromium reagents for chemoselective addition to aldehydes, (2) Generation of geminai dimetallic species of zinc and chromium for the Wittig-type olefination, (3) Preparation of tantalum-alkyne complexes and their synthetic use, (4) Activation and deactivation of zinc with a catalytic amount of lead, (5) Control of one-electron transfer and its application to sequential radical and anionic reactions, (6) Rhenium and manganese catalyzed-Barbier-type addition of aromatic compounds to aldehydes based on C-H bond activation. The account focuses on the background to the research and how the reactions were discovered.