Industrial R&D on Catalytic CC and CN Coupling Reactions: A Personal Account on Goals, Approaches and Results

R&D issues for the application of Pd‐ and Ni‐catalyzed CC and CN coupling reactions in the fine chemicals industry are discussed. In a first part, some background is given on industrial R&D and the role of CC and CN coupling for preparative applications is described. The following principal approaches to industrial research are illustrated with relevant examples from the literature and from our own laboratories: i) development of catalysts and catalytic methodologies with industrial potential; ii) finding shorter routes to target molecules using catalytic methods; iii) development of industrial catalytic processes in multi‐step syntheses.