The development of catalysts to control chemical reactions has always been of central importance when it comes to producing useful materials with desirable properties in a sustainable way. Ligand design is an important tool for optimising the activity, productivity and selectivity of homogeneous catalysts. Our work focuses on creating new catalysts from abundant and nontoxic metals, aiming to replace traditional precious metal catalysts. This is achieved through advanced ligand design strategies, including metal-ligand and metal-metal cooperation, as well as redox-active and stimuli-responsive ligand systems.