Hydrocarbon Oxidation Catalyzed by [Ru(TDL)(XY)Z] Complexes (TDL = Tridentate Ligand; XY = Bidentate Ligand and Z = H2O or Halide)

Mixed-chelate [Ru(TDL)(XY)Z] type complexes (TDL = tridentate ligand; XY = bidentate ligand and Z = H 2 O or halide) are known to perform hydrocarbon oxidation under ambient conditions. The subject of this review comprises the use of various tri-dentate polypyridyl and Schiff-base complexes of ruthenium as catalysts for performing oxo-functionalization of a number of organic substrates using various precursor oxidants. The catalytic ability and mechanistic details of such ruthenium based catalyst complexes in the oxidation of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons under homogeneous reaction are systematically reviewed in this article highlighting the author’s own recent investigations on such catalytic systems.