Homogeneous Catalysis continues to be a thriving discipline and to deliver important discoveries at the service of society. One gauge of its importance is the number of recent Nobel Prizes for discoveries related to catalysis (2001, 2005, 2007 and the most recent one in 2010 for “palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling in organic synthesis” to Heck, Negishi and Suzuki). It now faces new challenges as it represents perhaps the most relevant contribution of chemistry to sustainable development. Areas in which catalysis in general and homogeneous catalysis in particular will give a major contribution are the development of more direct synthetic pathways for fine chemical production, the increase of reaction selectivities (waste reduction) and efficiency (energy saving), transfer of existing processes to non toxic solvents (operator safety), light harvesting and transformation to chemical energy (renewable energy), carbon dioxide fixation (global warming), and so forth.

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