Abstract:
The alkaline-earth (Ae) metals receive rapidly growing attention as abundant and benign metals for catalysis. Although it is questionable whether they will ever replace the more precious d-block metals, there is a growing body of evidence for transition metal-like behaviour. This is especially true for the heavier low-valent Ae metal complexes (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba). Recent contributions to low-valent Ae metal chemistry and activation of small molecules like H2, N2 and CO2 will be presented and the potential, but controversial, contribution of d-orbitals will be discussed.
