book reviews Elements of Organometalllc Chemlstry
F. R. Hartley, University of Southampton. The Chemical Society, Burlington House, London, 1974. vi 103 pp. Figs. and tables. 14 X 21.5 cm.
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I t is hardly a secret that organametallic chemistry has heen thriving and growing st an impressive pace, particularly since 1951 when Kealy and Pauson prepared ferrocene by accident thereby opening possihilities for a whole new range of transition metal compounds. The increasing importance of this field to the discipline of ehemistry is being felt in the appearance of organometallic chemistry even in the undergraduate curriculum (although there is not yet universal agreement about a t what level the aooearance oueht to aecurL Whether one wt-hes tt, ~ntruducethe w h ~ e c tas p a n of the advanced wganlr course, the senror inorganic course, or a t the first year graduate level, Professor Hartley's useful manograph (intended as an introduction to the subject of organometallic chemistry for teachers in the British equivalent of high schools) will be worth consideration. The hook consists of seven chapters: a n Introduction, Preparation of Organometallic Compounds, Structures of Organomet a l k Compounds, Bonding in Organametallic Compounds, Systematic Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds, Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis, and School Exoeriments in Oreanometallic Chemistnr he rhrmlitry of &I rarhonyls and rya. mdes i r excluded: the treatment focuses on other compounds emtainlng metal-carbon bonds: carbenes, alkyls, aryls, acyls, and T-complexes. Although compounds of the representative elements are not ignored, the emphasis is on those of the transition metals.
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I t would obviously be impossible to do complete justice to so vast a field in a brief monograph. The author has, however, selected topics wisely and written with a sufficient clarity to make this little hook an excellent basis on which students can build a more complete and sophisticated picture. Hartley treats a number of questions that would orwr naturally to a beginner in the field hut that are seldom drveloped soecificallv in othcr books. Tu wit Chaoter i d e a l s with the question of why organoket a l k compounds which often have AGO > 0 can be prepared a t all. The very brief Chapter 6 outlines the advantages and disadvantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis in the preparation of organic compounds via organometallie interrnediates. Ligands m e classified according to the number of carbons bonded to the metal rather than by number of electrons donated Along wrth some plau-lhlr (hut arbitrary) simple rules, thm p t r m m the novice t o hookkeep electrons and compute oxidation states for metals in these complexes without facing the difficult question of their precise electronic structures. The chapter on bonding dwells on metalmethyl and metal-ethylene bonds as the paradigms of o-donation and of s-donation with T hack-donation, respectively. A convenient chart provides pictorial representations of filled and empty ligand orbitals for d i g a n d s up through benzene so that the reader can work out the possible overlaps with metal orbitals of appropriate symmetry. That this chapter seems less satisfying results from the difficulty of discussing the electronic structures of organometallics w i t h o d t h e explicit use of group theory or molecular orhital energy diagrams. The level of sophistication that such a treatment of bonding demands is, of course, beyond the bounds set by the author for the
hook as a whole. Nevertheless, I fear that beginning students may remain somewhat mystified after reading this particular chapter. In size and level this book invites comparison with the now ten-year-old Rochow text "Organometallic Chemistry." I t does not contain the large number of practical applications that Roehow features. Hartley's hook dwells to a considerable (perhaps even excessive) extent on transition metal chemistry while Roehow's almost ignores transition in favor of representative metals. The increased emphasis 06 and sophistication of bonding considerations by Hartley reflect the advances of the last decade. Thus, these two monographs are in a certain sense complementary although Hartley's ia of course the more current. The price is reasonable and the text practically error free (although there is an extra H in one of the structures in reaction 108). This book could well precede the more advanced approach in Cotton and Wilkinson or Coates. John J. Alexander University of Cincinnati Cincinnati. Ohio 45221 Fluorine In Organlc Chemistry Richard D. Chambers, University of Durham, England. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1974. xv 391 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $19.50.
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The publication of this authoritative work by one of the leaders in the field will be welcomed by all idvestigators in this research area and those who wish to become acquainted with the scope and potential of this rapidly eapandina field. Since the book provides a h r o a d perspective of the role of fluorine in oreanic cbemistrv. ,. it will be of general interest, uhilc serving the needs of spcc~al~sts. Vmsuver, the hook a e,pcrially valuable as a lext in nn advanced special topics course. The author has fulfilled admirably his objective of presenting an outline of organic fluorine chemistry on a broadly mecha(Continued on page A274)
Volume 53, Number 5. May 1976 / A271
