1260 Organometallics, Vol. 1, No. 9,1982 Over the past decade transition-metal cluster chemistry has undergone unprecedented growth. Many factors have contributed to this upsurge in interest: the inorganic chemists’ fascination with metal polyhedra, the metal surface-cluster surface analogy, the potential to develop cluster catalysts, automation of X-ray methods of structure analysis, and last but not least the development of skeletal electron counting as an alternative to the EAN rule for predicting and describing skeletal stereochemistry. The article by Johnson and Lewis, two of the principal contributors to the field, will be welcomed by cluster chemists as an attempt to examine some of those aspects of structure, bonding, and reactivity which are of current debate. It is however a rather curious selection of material which very much reflecta the personal interests of the Cambridge group. Thus while iron subgroup cluster chemistry is given extensive coverage, the important polynuclear rhodium compounds or nickel group clusters are barely mentioned. Likewise mixed-metal clusters other than those of Fe, Ru, and Os receive scant attention. On the positive side, the sections on cluster geometry, bonding theories, M-M bond distances and bond orders, stoichiometry, and ligand-ligand interactions are extremely useful in focusing on both the successes and predictive chortcomings of current empirical approaches to bonding and structure in clusters. Clearly much has been made of the electronic influence on cluster structure. Further progress toward a unifying theory would seem to demand a greater understanding of ligand and steric effects in polynuclear systems. A minor criticism of an otherwise excellent article is the lack of attention to fine detail. There are numerous minor errors, some typographical, others nontrivial (the Os3 skeleton of 50-electron H20s3(C0)12is described (p 231) as linear with a nonbonded Os.-Os distance of 3.0 A!; closo structures are predicted when S = N + 1 not S = 1 (p 236)). A. J. Carty, Guelph- Waterloo Centre for Graduate Work i n Chemistry
Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic Chemistry, 8th Edition, Uranium, Supplement Volume E2,Coordination Compounds (including organouranium compounds). K. W. Bagnall, F. Baumgiirtner, and B. Kanellakopulos, volume authors. C. Keller and K.-C. Buschbeck, volume editors. Gmelin Institut fur Anorganische Chemie der Max-Phck-GesselscM zur Forderung der Wissenschaften and Springer-Verlag,Berlin/Heidelberg/New York. 1980. iv + 266 pages. DM 611, $342.20. In 1936, Gmelin published the volume “Uran” as part of the eighth edition of the “Handbuch der Anorganische Chemie”series. The present volume is part of a mammoth undertaking to update
Book Reviews and summarize the presently known chemistry of uranium (and indeed, of all the actinides). Part A deals with the element uranium, Part B, with the metal and ita alloys, Part C, with certain of the compounds, Part D, with the solution chemistry, and Part E, with the coordination compounds. The present volume (E2) is the second of two uranium coordination chemistry monographs and deals both with nonsolvated coordination compounds having charged ligands (Chapter 1)and with organometallic compounds (Chapter 2). It covers the literature through 1977. In Chapter 1, Kenneth W. Bagnall of the University of Manchester provides (in English) a systematic, detailed survey of uranium coordination complexes with charged (all are negative) organic ligands, not bound through carbon. The coverage is by ligand type and includes @-diketonates, tropolonates, 8hydroxyquinolinates,cupferronates, dithiocarbamates, xanthates, dithiocarboxyla*, pyrazolylboratm,Schiff bases, phthalocyanines, and “super“ phthalocyanines. In each section, ligands related to these types are also treated. The coverage is exhaustive in terms of both breadth and depth. Information on each compound includes method of synthesis, color, and useful spectroscopicdata. Ligand structural diagrams are abundant and clear. The references include both the chemical literature and conference abstracts. Some, although not all, diffraction-drived molecular structures are shown. In Chapter 2, Basil Kanellakopulos and Franz Baumgartner of the Nuclear Research Center in Karlsruhe discuss the organometallic compounds of uranium. Although the text is in German, section headings as well as the table of contents are in English. The coverage is again by ligand type, covering allyl, cyclopentadienyl, modified cyclopentadienyl, indenyl, cyclooctatetraene, modified cyclooctatetraene, and other (arene, annulene, carbonyl, metal-metal bonded, pyrrole, alkyl) functionalities. The discussion is well organized and in-depth. The wealth of information provided for each compound includes synthetic procedures, spectroscopic and magnetic information, molecular structure data, and reaction chemistry. There is an abundance of figures illustrating physical data (spectra, magnetic susceptibility) and crystal structures. Unfortunately, since the coverage is only through 1977, many of the newer developments in this rapidly expanding field could not be included. As in all Gmelin volumes, this monograph provides exhaustive indices (by formula and ligand) as well as an explanation of the Gmelin classification scheme and a table of conversion factors. Although the price of this volume will likely inhibit individual purchases, it should not inhibit libraries. AU scientific researchers interested in uranium chemistry will find this information-packed volume to be a highly useful addition to the Gmelin series. Tobin J. Marks, Northwestern University
