Osmium and Palladium: Complementary Metals in Alkene Activation and Oxidation

The activation and oxidation of alkenes using either osmium or palladium catalysis are compared. Osmium has been the metal of choice for dihydroxylation and aminohydroxylation of alkenes; however, palladium can now achieve comparable reactions and in some circumstances is more readily accepted than osmium. 1 Osmium 1.1 Dihydroxylations 1.1.1 Asymmetric Dihydroxylation 1.2 Aminohydroxylations 1.2.1 Catalytic Aminohydroxylation 1.2.2 Asymmetric Aminohydroxylation 1.3 Diamination 1.4 Oxidative Cyclisations of 1,5-Dienes 2 Palladium 2.1 Palladium(II) 2.1.1 Intermolecular Reactions 2.1.1.1 Oxygen Nucleophiles 2.1.1.2 Nitrogen Nucleophiles 2.1.2 Intramolecular Reactions 2.1.2.1 Oxygen Nucleophiles 2.1.2.2 Nitrogen Nucleophiles 3 Conclusion