Integrated Approach To Coordination Chemistry

Coordination chemistry is the study of compounds formed between metal ions and other neutral or negatively charged molecules. This book offers a series of investigative inorganic laboratories approached through systematic coordination chemistry. It not only highlights the key fundamental components of the coordination chemistry field, it also exemplifies the historical development of concepts in the field. In order to graduate as a chemistry major that fills the requirements of the American Chemical Society, a student needs to take a laboratory course in inorganic chemistry. Most professors who teach and inorganic chemistry laboratory prefer to emphasize coordination chemistry rather than attempting to cover all aspects of inorganic chemistry; because it keeps the students focused on a cohesive part of inorganic chemistry, which has applications in medicine, the environment, molecular biology, organic synthesis, and inorganic materials.

Although coordination chemistry naturally centers on the synthesis of coordination compounds, the synthesis of these materials is typically not an end in itself. Coordination compounds are utilized in all branches of chemistry; from theoretical modeling to industrial and consumer products. While a large amount of information is available on coordination chemistry in general and synthetic methods in particular, no comprehensive work has been presented on the preparation of coordination compounds with an emphasis on synthetic strategies rather than on detailed descriptions of specific syntheses. The goal of this book is to provide an approach to coordination chemistry that is based upon preparative strategies.The main aim of the authors is to present a systematic classification of synthetic reactions rather than an encyclopedic listing of experimental results. Hence, the coverage is more selective than exhaustive. Despite this, the book provides access to the original literature with ca. 2000 references. The edition is well-illustrated and contains almost 250 schemes, figures and illustrations of crystal structures of selected complexes.

GEORGE CHRISTOU Indiana University, Bloomington I am no doubt representative of a large number of current inorganic chemists in having obtained my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the 1970s. It was during this period that I began my continuing love affair with this subject, and the fact that it happened while I was a student in an organic laboratory is beside the point. I was always enchanted by the more physical aspects of inorganic chemistry; while being captivated from an early stage by the synthetic side, and the measure of creation with a small c that it entails, I nevertheless found the application of various theoretical, spectroscopic and physicochemical techniques to inorganic compounds to be fascinating, stimulating, educational and downright exciting. The various bonding theories, for example, and their use to explain or interpret spectroscopic observations were more or less universally accepted as belonging within the realm of inorganic chemistry, and textbooks of the day had whole sections on bonding theories, magnetism, kinetics, electron-transfer mechanisms and so on. However, things changed, and subsequent inorganic chemistry teaching texts tended to emphasize the more synthetic and descriptive side of the field. There are a number of reasons for this, and they no doubt include the rise of diamagnetic organometallic chemistry as the dominant subdiscipline within inorganic chemistry and its relative narrowness vis-d-vis physical methods required for its prosecution.

At the heart of coordination chemistry lies the coordinate bond, in its simplest sense arising from donation of a pair of electrons from a donor atom to an empty orbital on a central metalloid or metal. Metals overwhelmingly exist as their cations, but these are rarely met ‘naked’ – they are clothed in an array of other atoms, molecules or ions that involve coordinate covalent bonds (hence the name coordination compounds). These metal ion complexes are ubiquitous in nature, and are central to an array of natural and synthetic reactions. Written in a highly readable, descriptive and accessible style Introduction to Coordination Chemistry describes properties of coordination compounds such as colour, magnetism and reactivity as well as the logic in their assembly and nomenclature. It is illustrated with many examples of the importance of coordination chemistry in real life, and includes extensive references and a bibliography. Introduction to Coordination Chemistry is a comprehensive and insightful discussion of one of the primary fields of study in Inorganic Chemistry for both undergraduate and non-specialist readers.