Transition metal compounds, either simple binery ones or complexes, are widely used as catalysts to facilitate various organic reactions. Each catalytic reaction requires specific theoritical explanation. Therefore, I don't think that a general theoriy can be addapted for these types of reactions. In many reactions، the transition metal acts as Lewis acid and can interact with many reacting substrates and this is because the TM compounds have vacant sites for bonding.

Read about the fundamental aspects of catalysis by taking any standard book and try to understand terms such as i)homogeneous and ii) heterogeneous catalysis. Role of ancillary ligands, nature of metal ions, influence of electronic and steric attributes, thermodynamic entities etc. You will automatically understand all aspects of a typical metal mediated catalytic reaction.

Best

Hi,

You may read Modern Physical Organic Chemistry wrote by Eric V. Anslyn and Dennis A. Dougherty, which is a book on organic transition metal catalysis and reaction mechanism.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=zh-CN&lr=&id=gY-Sxijk_tMC&oi=fnd&pg=PR23&dq=eric+v+anslyn+organic+transition&ots=evyDjdImTa&sig=m1GWW5ykl7DkoQzJ96FDf0cZZPc#v=onepage&q=eric%20v%20anslyn%20organic%20transition&f=false

In continuation to all the good answers and the nice books for reading mentioned a feeling that transition metal compounds(TMC) have all the required properties for catalysis is a must. In anticipation you consider that all the good activity TMC are showing is due to the tunable properties of transition metals in terms of variable oxidation states, diverse energitics under different geometries, tunability by the ligands, differing labilities and stabilizations etc etc. for example regarding redox potential tuning by complexation a pdf is attached for ready reference.

For the particular case of bifunctional catalysis which involves two varieties of catalytic sites and are able to catalyze two different types of reactions it is again the differentiating properties which make it possible for example in any metal carbon compound having a M--C bond due to partial positive charge on metal or presence of available orbitals metal has lewis acidic character while as electron rich carbon with partial negative charge has a lewis base or nucleophilic character which makes a typical M--C compound liable for cooperative or bifunctional catalysis with electron deficient response on metal and electron rich response on carbon and hence chance of opposite re activities with same compound. This is just an example list is long, long and so long.