Fast development in all areas of life and science over the last 50 years demands versatile, energy efficient and cheap materials with specific but easily tuneable properties which can be used for example in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), thin-film transistors, photovoltaic cells, etc. This thesis is devoted to the development of novel synthetic approaches to molecules with potential applications in the field of molecular electronics.  The acquisition of a detailed mechanistic understanding of the newly developed reactions is central to the work presented in this thesis. The first chapter is dedicated to the development of a new procedure for the preparation of phospha-Wittig-Horner (pWH) reagents, i.e. a reagents that has been known to convert carbonyl compounds into compounds with P=C double bonds. Each step of the synthetic sequence, i.e. preparation of the starting P,P-dichlorophosphines, their phosphorylation using the Michaelis-Arbuzov protocol, coordination to the metal centre and final hydrolysis, are presented in detail. A possible route to uncoordinated pWH reagents is also discussed. The second chapter focuses on the reactivity of the pWH reagents with acetone under different reaction conditions. The results show how changes in the ratio of starting material vs. base as well as reaction time or structure of the pWH reagent can influence the reaction outcome and the stability of the obtained products. The possibility to prepare unusual phosphaalkenes with unsaturated P-substituents is presented. The third chapter of the thesis is dedicated to the reactivity of pWH reagents towards symmetric and asymmetric ketones which contain one or two acetylene units. The proposed mechanisms of the reactions are studied by means of in situ FTIR spectroscopy as well as theoretical calculations. Physical-chemical properties of oxaphospholes, cumulenes and bisphospholes are presented. The last chapter is dedicated to reactivity studies of pWH reagents towards ketenes, and the exploration of a reliable route to 1-phosphaallenes. Detailed mechanistic studies of the pWH reaction that are based on the isolation and crystallographic characterization of unique reaction intermediates are presented. The reactivity of phosphaallenes towards nucleophiles such as water and methanol are examined. In summary, this thesis presents synthetic routes to novel phosphorus-containing molecules, together with detailed studies of the reaction mechanisms of the observed transformations.

The use of transition metal catalysts - either homogeneous (discrete well-defined metal complexes) or heterogeneous (more poorly-defined metal surfaces) - play an important role in the transformations of small substrates into larger, value-added compounds. Although heterogeneous catalysts have the greater industrial applicability, there has been enormous interest in homogeneous transition metal systems for effecting selective transformations of small substrate molecules. The bulk of these homogeneous systems are mononuclear. Perhaps surprisingly, very little research has focuses on systems with adjacent metal centres. Binuclear systems possess adjacent metals that may interact and possibly lead to transformations not observed in monometallic systems. It is this opportunity for adjacent metal involvement in substrate activation that is the focus of this dissertation. the goal of this research is to gain an increased understanding of metal-metal cooperativity and adjacent metal involvement in substrate transformations; how can adjacent metal involvement lead to substrate activation not seen in monometallic counterparts, and what role does each metal play in these interactions, particularly when the two metals are different. Throughout this dissertation examples of transformation unique to systems with at least two metals are presented and examined with a particular focus on the roles of the two metals and any associated binding modes in these transformations. In addition, by comparing the RhOs, RhRu and IrRu systems, the influence of metal substitution is also examined. For example, diazoalkane activation and C-c bond formation promoted by the Rh-based systems is investigated, the roles of the adjacent metals of the IrRu system in the conversion of methylene groups to oxygenates is examined, and the unusual geminal C-H bond activation of olefinic substrates is explored. Overall, the work presented within this thesis adds to the growing understanding of adjacent metal cooperativety, leading us toward a more rational approach to the design of homogeneous homo- and heterobimetallic catalysts, heterogeneous catalyst and nanoparticle catalysts for selective substrate transformations.

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