The insertion of a metal complex into a covalent bond involving formally an overall two-electron loss on one metal or a one-electron loss on each of two metals, i.e. \[\rm{L}_{n}\rm{M}^{m}+\rm{XY}\rightarrow \rm{L}_{n}\rm{M}^{m+2}\left(\rm{X}\right)\left(\rm{Y}\right)\] or \[2\rm{L}_{n}\rm{M}^{m}+\rm{XY}\rightarrow \rm{L}_{n}\rm{M}^{m+1}\left(\rm{X}\right)+\rm{L}_{n}\rm{M}^{m+1}\left(\rm{Y}\right)\] In radical chemistry, the term is used to indicate a radical addition to a carbon–carbon double bond, under oxidative conditions. For example: