Organocobalt Compounds in the Synthesis of Pyridines–An Example of Structure-Effectivity Relationships in Homogeneous Catalýsis

The cocyclization of alkynes with cyano compounds using organocobalt catalysts of the type YCoL] has evolved into a versatile and technically useful method for synthesizing pyridine and its derivatives. An important advance came with the realization that the organo group Y remains attached to the cobalt throughout the catalytic cycle. This opened up the possibility of optimizing the catalyst by varying the controlling ligand Y.