Catherine E. Housecroft - Böcker

This book addresses the chemistry of the second and third row d-block metals, assuming a knowledge of the chemistry of the first row metals. Chapter 1 looks at the metals and summarizes occurrence, physical properties and uses. Chapter 2 considers periodic trends in properties. Chapter 3 considers aqueous solution chemistry, species present (with comparisons of the first row metal ions) and redox properties. Chapter 4 surveys structure: the range of coordination numbers shown by second and third row metals is often a topic for discussion in University courses. Chapter 5 looks at electronic spectra and magnetic properties, making comparisons with the first row the main objective of the chapter. Detailed mathematical treatments are not given. Chapter 6 considers metal-metal bonding, and the classes of compound that contain triple and quadruple bonds; the role of bridging ligands is introduced. Chapter 7 looks at selected clusters with a pi donar ligands (e.g. metal halo species) in which metal-metal bonding is important. Chapter 8 introduces the area of polyoxometallates, closing with a short discussion of the wide range of applications. The book contains many references to encourage wider reading by the student; in addition to textbooks of relevance, the author has included many recent literature citations, and a section called "Metals in Action" which gives citations which show the heavier metals at work in, for example, catalytic converters and molecular wires.