This review summarizes the most noteworthy achievements in the field of C–O and C–N bond formation by hydroalkoxylation and hydroamination reactions on unactivated alkenes (including 1,2- and 1,3-dienes) promoted by earth-abundant 3d transition metal catalysts based on manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc. The relevant literature from 2012 until early 2021 has been covered.

Perylenediimide (PDI) is one of the most important classes of dyes and is intensively explored in the field of functional organic materials. The functionalization of this electron-deficient aromatic core is well-known to tune the outstanding optoelectronic properties of PDI derivatives. In this respect, the functionalization has been mostly addressed in bay-positions to halogenated derivatives through nucleophilic substitutions or metal-catalyzed coupling reactions. Being aware of the synthetic difficulties of obtaining the key intermediate 1-bromoPDI, we will present as an alternative in this review the potential of 1-nitroPDI: a powerful building block to access a large variety of PDI-based materials.

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are nowadays essential in organic synthesis for the construction of C–C, C–N, C–O, and other C-heteroatom bonds. The 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Akira Suzuki was awarded for the discovery of these reactions. These great advances for organic chemists stimulated intense research efforts worldwide dedicated to studying these reactions. Among them, the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling (SMC) reaction, which usually involves an organoboron reagent and an organic halide or triflate in the presence of a base and a palladium catalyst, has become, in the last few decades, one of the most popular tools for the creation of C–C bonds. In this review, we present recent progress concerning the SMC reaction with the original use of nitroarenes as electrophilic coupling partners reacting with the organoboron reagent.