Article
Article
C-H activation
Article By:
Crabtree, Robert H. Chemistry Department, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
Last reviewed:October 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.800220
The cleavage of carbon-hydrogen bonds in organic compounds, leading to subsequent functionalization to introduce useful chemical groups. For example, petroleum and natural gas, important energy resources for the modern world, are both alkanes, CnH2n+2, with many C
H bonds. One problem is to convert these alkanes to useful alcohols, CnH2n+1OH. This is particularly difficult because of the lack of reactivity of alkanes as indicated by their older name, paraffins (from Latin, meaning low affinity). In CH activation, metal catalysts are often used to mediate the hydrocarbon conversion reactions. See also: Alcohol; Alkane; Chemical bonding; Organic chemistry
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
