Migratory Insertion of Alkenes into Metal–Oxygen and Metal–Nitrogen Bonds

The insertion of an unsaturated ligand into a MC or MH bond proceeds through migratory insertion, a fundamental organometallic reaction. Recent literature documents evidence of the migratory insertion of alkenes into an MO and MN bonds for alkene alkoxylation and alkene amination reactions, respectively. Herein we provide an overview of the literature and a perspective on how these recent experiments relate to classic experiments on CO and CN bond formation with alkene complexes of the late transition metals.