1136 Organometallics, Vol. 3, No. 7, 1984 of all kinds and the various kinds of organosilanes containing sila functional substitution (e.g., silicon hydrides, halides, alkoxides, esters, amines, etc.) as well as special topics such as the Sic multiple bond, silylenes and silyl radicals, silyl carbenes, and Me3SiCHzderivatives of main-group and transition metals but, curiously, not the (Me,Si)&H- and (Me3Si)3C- derivatives. What this chapter lacks is a focussed discussion of the physical and spectroscopic (especially%i NMR) properties that are important and useful in the study of organosilicon compounds. The coverage of carbacyclic silanes, i.e., cyclic compounds containing only silicon and carbon atoms in the ring, works its way from the highly reactive three-membered ring compounds through the more common and much investigated four-, five-, and six-membered ring compounds to the larger rings and also carbacyclic silanes containing other metal atoms in the ring. Although synthesis is well covered, the discussion reflects the author’s interests in questions of mechanism. The next chapter takes us into the realm of silicone chemistry. After an initial section on the synthesis and reactions of chlorosilanes, the starting materials of the silicone industry, the polymerization of siloxanes, and the physical and applied aspects of silicone chemistry and technology are discussed. This chapter is too short to give more than a superficial overview of this important topic, but it is a useful one to have. Cyclic and acyclic polysilanes have received much attention in recent years, but it is questionable if this topic justifies a separate chapter of 33 pages, probably at the expense of other topics. Nonetheless, West has provided an excellent discussion of this subject to which he has made many contributions. Eaborn’s classic book on organosilicon compounds is now nearly 25 years old. The present four-chapter treatment of organosilicon chemistry brings a much-needed and well-done updating of this subject, although, for the most part, it is not as detailed as Eaborn’s book. It is important to note that a further chapter on organosilicon chemistry, that by Magnus, Sarkar, and Djuric which deals with the applications of organosilicon compounds in organic synthesis, can be found in Volume 7 of “Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry”. The excellent chapter on all aspects of organogermanium chemistry by Rivi&re,RivigreBaudet, and Sat& updates the 1971 monograph by Lesbre, Mazerolles, and SatgB. Notable among the new advances of the last 12 years that this chapter brings are the development of the chemistry of the germylenes in great breadth and depth and the discovery of routes for the generation and utilization of intermediates with doubly bonded germanium, areas to which the present authors have been the leading contributors. A good, standard discussion of organotin compounds is provided by A. G. Davies and P. J. Smith. It is organized by substituents on tin, starting out with tetraorganotins and then proceeding to organotin halides and the other classes of Sn functional tin compounds. Other sections deal with organotin spectroscopy (lleSn Mossbauer and ll9Sn NMR) and industrial applications of organotins. The organolead chapter by P. G. Harrison covers its material in much the same fashion, except that the attention given physical measurements is greater. With the continuing decline of organolead antiknock additives, research activity on organolead compounds has not been high in recent years, and this chapter does not bring much that is not covered in the 1971 book by Frey and Shapiro. The coverage of the group 5 (As, Sb, Bi) organometallic compounds by J. L. Wardell also is standard fare and is very short (27 pages, including the reference section). It is a bit too superficial to be of much value to the interested reader.
Book Reviews On the other hand, the chapter in which Van Koten and Noltes discuss the organic compounds of copper and silver and R. J. Puddephatt the organic compounds of gold are excellent. They are thorough and provide good in-depth coverage of the preparation, reactivity, structure, and bonding of the group 1B organometallics. Organozinc and organocadmium compounds are discussed separately in one chapter by J. Boersma and organmercurials in the following chapter by J. L. Wardell. Both are well-organized treatments of their subjects that give good overviews of the organic chemistry of these elements. The main-group elements receive their due in these first two volumes of ”Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry’’ (with the exception of the group 5 elements). The only facet of their chemistry that has not been covered in most cases is their use in organic synthesis. However, this subject is dealt with in some detail in Volume 7. Dietmar Seyferth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Progress in Inorganic Chemistry. Volume 31. Edited by S. J. Lippard. Wiley, New York. 1984. v + 474 pages. $65.00. Volume 31 in the “Progress in Inorganic Chemistry’’ series upholds the high quality of the series. The five well-written reviews on areas of active inorganic research are proven to be up-to-date by large numbers of current references. The review of lanthanide luminescence by W. Dew. Horrocks and M. Albin (104 pages) emphasizes aspects of lanthanide(II1) luminescenceof interest to coordination chemists and biochemists. The initial part of the review describes complexes of organic ligands such as 0-diketonates,water, and common organic solvents. The biochemical part emphasizes proteins and enzymes but includes other biologically active compounds. The review of methylcobalamin and related organocobalt chemistry by P. J. Toscano and L. G. Marzilli (99 pages) is unusually complete having 677 references and an addendum with many 1983 references. The review is organized along the plan of organocobalt syntheses, characterization, and cobalt-carbon cleavage reactions. Reactions of methylcobalamin are particularly well described. The review of transition-metal complexes of alkylidene ligands by J. E. Hahn (58 pages) emphasizes that the bonding and structures of the complexes are reasonably well understood, but their reactivity is especially fruitful for future research. The review is divided among synthesis, structure, bonding, reactions, and catalytic implications of the title complexes. The review of the chemistry of dichlorotris(tripheny1phosphine)ruthenium(II) and major derivatives by F. H. Jardine (104 pages) emphasizes reactions of the ruthenium(I1) complexes. These reactions include triphenylphosphine and anionic ligand substitution, isotope exchange and isomerism, oxidation and reduction, and catalytic hydrogenation. The author concludes that much work remains to be done in mechanisms of the catalytic reactions. The review of the empirical and theoretical status of the angular overlap model (AOM) by M. Gerloch and R. G. Woolley (74 pages) is particularly timely because of the increasing popularity of the model. The review describes the nature of the model and its applications. The summary of AOM parameters for many complexes is especially useful. James H. Weber, University of New Hampshire
