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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Oxidative addition and reductive elimination?

Also known as: oxidative addition · reductive elimination

Definition 20.4 University Chemistry — Year 2 · Chapter 20 — Organometallic Catalysis: Elementary Steps and Cycles

In an oxidative addition, a molecule A–B adds to a metal centre by breaking its A–B bond and forming M–A and M–B bonds. A reductive elimination is the reverse step: two ligands A and B, cis to each other, join into A–B and leave the metal.

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