Summary and Concluding Comments

In summary, the advances of the past few years have well demonstrated both the challenges and the promise of the Pt(II)/Pt(IV) redox couple for alkane functionalization. It should also be mentioned that the emerging conceptual understanding of the elementary steps involved in this process has also contributed to the development of methods to activate and functionalize alkyl groups in complex organic molecules. 

This methodology clearly enriches the tool box of the synthetic organic chemist. Other spin-offs from the studies described above, such as the incorporation of dioxygen as an oxidant and the use of alkyl carbon-het-eroatom coupling as a product release step for other metal-mediated organic transformations, may also emerge over the next several years. 

Several relevant papers appeared while this manuscript was in press, listed here with their relevance to particular sections of this review  

For support, we are grateful to the National Science Foundation. U. F. is additionally grateful to DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) for various fellowships. We would like to thank A. M. Brackett, J. L. Look, A.V. Pawlikowski, and N. A. Smythe for valuable comments and for proof-reading of the manuscript. 

Richardson, K. S. Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry , Harper Row New York, 1976. 

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