Transforming bulk alkenes and alkynes into fine chemicals enabled by single-atom site catalysis

The addition and substitution reactions across a variety of alkenes and alkynes have been playing an important role in organic synthesis. In particular, catalyses enabled by homogeneous complexes as well as heterogenous nanomaterials have been much received attentions over decades. Along with these blooming progresses in these fields, single-atom site catalysts (SACs) exhibit outstanding performances in terms of reactivity and selectivity, thus providing a new powerful strategy to upgrade these bulk chemicals. Herein, we summarize the reactions of alkenes and alkynes enabled by SACs, in which catalytic hydrogenation, hydrosilylation, hydroboration, hydroformylation, and cross coupling have been included. Moreover, preparations and fine structures of the corresponding SACs have been described, therefore providing a better understanding and overview to address the origin of catalytic activity in the reported examples.