Profiles in Inorganic Chemistry – serie

From boyhood in the coal-mining village of Coello, Illinois, to winning the Priestly Medal and becoming the president of the American Chemical Society, Professor Emeritus Fred Basolo of Northwestern University traces the intertwined development of his life, career, and the field of inorganic chemistry. With over a hundred photographs and dozens of structures and equations, From Coello to Inorganic Chemistry details the major innovations, travels, family life, and guests hosted while helping to build one of the world's leading inorganic chemistry departments from its humble beginnings at Northwestern University. Students and chemists with interests in bioinorganic chemistry, catalysis, nanoscience, new materials research, and organometallics can follow the emergence of inorganic chemistry as a rival to organic chemistry through the accomplishments of one of its most influential pioneers.

Since the discovery of ferrocene and the sandwich-type complexes, the development of organometallic chemistry took its course like an avalanche and became one of the scientific success stories of the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this development, the traditional boundaries between inorganic and organic chemistry gradually disappeared and a rebirth of the nowadays highly important field of homogeneous catalysis occurred. It is fair to say that despite the fact that the key discovery, which sparked it all off, was made more than 50 years ago, organometallic chemistry remains a young and lively discipline.

Since the discovery of ferrocene and the sandwich-type complexes, the development of organometallic chemistry took its course like an avalanche and became one of the scientific success stories of the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this development, the traditional boundaries between inorganic and organic chemistry gradually disappeared and a rebirth of the nowadays highly important field of homogeneous catalysis occurred. It is fair to say that despite the fact that the key discovery, which sparked it all off, was made more than 50 years ago, organometallic chemistry remains a young and lively discipline.