Lead(IV) reagents: An underestimated class of reagents in synthesis?

An account of some recent developments in the chemistry of lead(IV) reagent s, and of the rationale which underpins this work, is reported in this lect ure. I hope to demonstrate that the synthetic utility of lead(IV) reagents may have been underestimated, and that this may have arisen at least in par t to the general perception of the toxicity of these compounds, the need to use stoichiometric quantities of the metal reagent and to reaction pathway s which have been generally thought to be cationic or radical in character. The possibility that many reactions of lead(IV) could proceed via reductiv e elimination type processes has hitherto not been considered, and this may have limited the perceived scope of its possible reactions. Some novel rea ctions which could possibly proceed through ligand metathesis and ligand co upling steps are presented.