Abstract: The scope of organometallic chemistry is broad and diverse, which makes it challenging to select appropriate content within the limited class hours to teach the students of the top-notch program in chemistry. This paper advocates a “less is more” approach, guided by the principles of fundamentality, connectivity, and representativeness. We recommend focusing on the structural features of metal complexes, the elementary steps, and five representative transition-metal-catalyzed reactions. Such a design will help students build essential knowledge, develop transferable problem-solving skills, and lay a foundation for advanced learning and research training.

Key words: Organometallic chemistry, Organic chemistry teaching, “101 Program” in chemistry, The top-notch undergraduate training program