B. D. Gupta and Anil J. Elias (Authors): Basic Organometallic Chemistry: Concepts, Syntheses and Applications of Transit
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BOOK REVIEW
B. D. Gupta and Anil J. Elias (Authors): Basic Organometallic Chemistry: Concepts, Syntheses and Applications of Transition Metals (CRC) Copyright: 2010. Format: Hardback Extent: 512. Price: $95. ISBN: 9781439849682 Alexander T. Radosevich
Received: 8 March 2012 / Accepted: 20 April 2012 / Published online: 12 May 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Falling as it does in the space between traditional organic and inorganic subdisciplines, organometallic chemistry can be a tough fit in the crowded undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Frequently treated as a ‘special topic’ within a course geared toward one of the more foundational areas, there is likely to be increased interest in exposing undergraduate chemists to organometallic chemistry as a result of the three Nobel prizes awarded this past decade for breakthroughs in organometallic catalysis. The text Basic Organometallic Chemistry: Concepts, Syntheses and Applications of Transition Metals by Gupta and Elias moves into this space, covering a broad range of topics within molecular organotransition metal chemistry. Both in tone and content, the text is well-suited to an upper-level undergraduate audience. At roughly 500 pages and a total of twenty chapters, the book falls neatly into two equal parts. The first ten chapters cover background and basics. Following an introductory chapter that provides historical perspective on the major milestones in the development of organometallic chemistry, the text begins in earnest with a discussion of electron counting and bonding formalisms (Chapter 2). The approach is primarily expository, providing the basic vocabulary and concepts used to describe organometallic compounds. As a result, the text does not assume an indepth knowledge of molecular orbital theory and should be highly accessible to undergraduate students. However, the simplicity of this approach leads at times to some awkward moments. A bulleted list is presented in lieu of a more
A. T. Radosevich (&) Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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complete explanation of why certain complexes deviate from the 18 electron rule. This ultimately requires recourse to a whole host of concepts (e.g. strong r-donors, dp orbitals, etc.) that had not been previously introduced. Moreover, there is very little discussion of global electronic structure (indeed, the first and only depiction of an orbital splitting diagram is found in chapter 18 on page 346!). Consequently, common concepts with broad explanatory power that find their way into other comparable texts (crystal field theory, ligand field theory, hard-soft acid base theory, etc.) are omitted here, and an instructor would likely need to supplement course content in order to provide students with additional perspective on structure. The text next leads students through a survey of common ligands in organometallic chemistry (Chapters 3–6). Specifically, the bonding, properties, preparation and reactivity of metal-bound ca
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