THE CRISIS IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY' EDWIN M. LARSEN University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin EDWINM. LARSEN i8 the elected Memberat-Large of the executive committee of the Ilivision of Chemirel Education. Wisconsin is and has been his home for most of his life. Armed with his degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and experience in industrial inorganir chemistry, he earned an Ohio State Ph.11. just prior to the war. The Monsanto-rtdministered portion of the Manhattan Project kept him busy with polonium in Ilayton far most of the war years. Since 1946 he has been "home" at. Madinon where he now holds the rank of Associate P ~ . o f e ~ ~ ofa Chmnist1.y. r His teaching has been in the general chemifitry program, undwg~.itduate inorganic, and in his specialty a t the graduate level: the transition elements. Many Larsen-authored papers on the chemistry of zirconium snd hafnium have appeared. Chemical .Ibslrwts has had his service8 since 1944. His concern for chemical educabion has led him into an active role helping Wisconsin high-school chemistry teachers. He has participated in aummer institutes for teachers and served as a "Visiting Scientist" for the Division.
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HAS been said t,hat a renaissaucez of inorganic chemistry occurred with the advent of the atomic age. If one considers the developments3 in fluorine chemistry, the trausuranium elements, the rare earths, boron chemistry, silicones and transition-metal-carbon bond compounds, among others, one must agree wit,h this statement. In spite of this, however, cerhain questions have arisen in the field which require decisive action. These concern the qualit,y aud quantity of iuorganic research and the formation of a Division of Inorganic Chemistry.
QUALITY AND QUANTITY Of RESEARCH
The data4 presented by Professor Noyes, Editor of the Journal qf the American Chemical Society, regarding articles submit.ted and published in the Journal plares the investigators who identify themselves with inorganic chemistry in an unenviable position. Although the number of papers submitted has not changed siguificantly over the years 1952-55, the numher of papers published has decreased. The rejection rate for papers classified as inorganir has risen, and in fact. exceeds that, of all other fields. To quote Professor Xoyes, "The maiu field out of line with the others is iuorganic chemistry, and the editors think a study should be made of the reason for this. Certainly some very poor inorganic manuscripts are received." In response to an inquiry to Professor Noyes5 con-
' Presented before the Division of Chemical Education a t the 130th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Atlantic City, Smtember. 1950. N Y R ~ L M , R. S., J. CHEM.EDUC., 34, 166 (1957). AUDRIETA, L. F.,Ind. Eng. Chem., 43, 269 (1951). NOYES,W. A,, Chem. Eng. News, 34, 1237 (1958). NOYES,W. A., private ceommunicat,ion, March 20, 1056.
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ceruing these data, he commented that although he had not made a systematic study of the rejections to date, it was his impression that "an inadequate knowledge of elementary physical chemistry, lack of knowledge of how to use the phase rule, and failure to obtain good analyses to determine empiriral formulae," were responsible for many rejections. Of course, there may he more than meets the eye in these data. Are the papers submitted t o the Journal a good sample of inorgauic papers as a whole? How many are submitted to other journals? More important, what is an inorganic paper? This, of course, leads to the question of just hat constitutes inorganic chemistry. THE DIVISION O F INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
From 1908 to 1940 one Division served for those interested in inorganic, analytical, and physical chemistry. I n 1920 the Analytical Division was formed. The formation of an Inorganic Division has been considered upon occasions, but it mas not until the Dallas meeting of the American Chemical Society in the spring of 1956 that concrete steps were taken in this direction. A group of interested individuals met and organized committees to make a formal proposal and circulate a petition for presentation to t,he council of the Society in September, 1956. I n view of the response to the petition, the council approved the formation of the Division of Inorganic. Chemistry with the usual probationary status. The officers: appointed by the President of the A.C.S., called an organization meeting a t which time plans were laid for the formal operatiou of the Division, and suggestions were made concerning the program for the Miami meeting in April, 1957. The promotion of the new Division raised the question in the minds of many of what constituted the field of inorganic chemistry and especially whether inorganic chemistry really could be considered separate and distinct from physiral chemistry. Even among the four hundred and fifty individuals who signed the petition there undoubtedly was some question as to the scope of inorganic chemistry. DEFINITION O f INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
There are some who feel it is unnecessary and/or undesirable to distinguish between the different fields of chemistry. It is easy to agree with this in principle, but in practice some system of classificatio~~ of subject matter is neressary. For the purposes of indexing, abstracting, as well as administering examinations and J. C. B d a , JT., Chairman, J. F. Gall, Chairman-elect, L. B. Asprey, Secretary-Trearurer. 427
courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels, a system of Divisions is needed. No sharp lines of demarcation can be established, for like all sciences, one field merges into the adjoining fields. If one examines the research interest of those who classify7 themselves as inorganic chemists, one finds that their published papers run from precision measurements of physical properties to straightforward preparations. Indeed, of the 201 individuals who associate themselves with inorganic chemistry, 59 have no published research for the past five years, and many have never published. Perhaps many of these individuals so list themselves because they teach freshman chemistry and not because of their specialization in inorganic chemistry. Certainly one does not need to be an inosganic chemist to teach freshman chemistry, nor is one an inorganic chemist because he does so. One might obtain a clue to the meaning of inorganic chemistry from the classification of papers in Chemical Abstracts and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Titles of papers selected from each source are given in Tables 1 and 2. It is apparent that the term inorganic chemistry has been applied inconsistently, and therefore the meaning of the rejection rate reported by Noyes is open to some question. '"American Chemical Society Directory of Graduate Research, 1955," MeGregor and Werner, Inc., Washington, D. C. --
Cl-ification -
TABLE 1 of Some Typical Papers in. Chemical
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Structural aspects of the hydrolysis of Ti(OEt),. Hydrolysis of butyl orthophosphate. Cyelopentadienylnitric oxide compounds. CyeIopeutadienylcoba1tdicarbonlil. The separation of protactinium and zirconium by an anion-exchange column. Extraction of metal complexes XXIV. Extraation of La,Th! and U(V1) with nhenvl . " carboxvlic ac~ds. Ionieation equilibria of metal coordination complexes in benzene solution(11). The structure of some cuprous complexes. Ionization and chelstion of 2-, 6-, and & quinoline carhoxylic acids.
Inorganic Organic Inorganic Organic Andytical Inorganic
Inorganic General and Physical
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TABLE 2 - Classiiication of Some Typical Papers in the Journalof t h e American Chemical Society Tala
The structures and properties of the rhodo and erythro complex compounds of chromium. The structure and characteristics of the flnorescent metal chelaies of o,o'dihydroxyazo compounds. The preparation of UCl8. The preparation and properties of sodium tetrei alkoxyhorohydrides. The synthesis of hydrazine. The rate of ferrous-ferric exchange in DsO. The kinetics of the Ce(1V)-Ce(II1) exchange reaction in perchloric awd.
Section
Physical Inorganic Physical Inorganic Physical Inorganic Physical
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY AS AN ENTITY
In spite of the apparent lack of agreement on the meaning of the term inorganic chemistry, a useful definition can be prepared. An appropriate definition might be: Inorganic chemistry is that field of chemistry which deals with the chemical and physical properties of the elements and their compounds, excluding the hydrocarbons and their derivatives. This is more general than the definition by N y h ~ l m . ~ Can a field be broad and yet have distinguishing features which identify it as a unit? Let us consider the relationship of inorganic to the other branches. Physical Chemistry. To many, inorganic and physical chemistry are inseparable. This need not be so, for physical chemistry deals with the principles which govern the behavior of all matter, and the physical constants of matter, be i t organic or inorganic. Investigators in all fields should have a basic understanding of these principles, for one cannot conduct a successful research program by defying nature. The problem here seems to revolve about the difference in the research in and application of physical chemical principles. Research in the fields of thermodynamics, spectroscopy,photwhemistry, kinetics, quantum and statistical mechanics, colloidal chemistry, and nuclear chemistry and the like is physical chemistry. However, the application of physical chemical principles and data to help systemati~ethe chemistry of the elements does not make the field physical chemistry. The availability of concrete data puts the chemistry of the elements on a more quantitative basis. It is more satisfying and convincing to support generalizations with quantitative data, rather than qualitative observations. For instance, oxidation potentials can be used to predict the stability of an ion or molecule with respect to oxidation by another specie. Or free energies of formation can be used to illustrate trends in the stabilities of a class of compounds as a function of the position of the element in the periodic table. However, there are large areas in inorganic chemistry for which quantitative data are not available, and generalizations based on qualitative observations must be used. There are many reactions which occur under conditions not suitable for quantitative interpretation by present physical chemical principles. These are nevertheless of significance and cannot be ignored. Some think that inorganic chemistry is confined to the preparation of a compound to be appropriately labeled and placed on a shelf. True, synthesis is part of the field of inorganic chemistry, but not the whole field, for the investigator in inorganic chemistry should characterize a compound in as many ways as possible. The determination of a molecular weight or a dissociation constant does not make the investigation physical chemistry. These procedures have berome standard tools just as much as has the analytical balance. The difference between the two fields is usually revealed in the intent of the author. His previous training, or classification of his previous papers, are not the determining factors. Was the aim of the investigator to explore and classify the chemistry of a given element, or was this particular system selected for study because the reaction products were well defined, or because equilibrium was readily attained? In the latter case the element involved probably was of secondary imporJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
tance, and the fact that an inorganic compound happened to be involved is not significant. Organic. Strange as it may seem there is some conflict between inorganic and organic chemistry as evidenced by the classification of papers shown in Tables l and 2. This also can be resolved by considering the intent of the author. Was he interested in the behavior of the metal atom, or the organic ligand? The mere fact that an organic molecule is used in the synthesis of a chelate molecule does not make the investigation an organic project. Analytical. Here also the problem can be resolved by considering the intent of the investigator. What may be considered an adequate separation process for the purification of one element from another may be far from satisfactory for the quantitative separation and estimation of that element. Of course, there are times when the two coincide. An analytical procedure may result from the observation of a chemical property, but
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the procedure itself requires further studies on reproducibility, sensitivity, accuracy, effect of diverse ions, and other considerations. On the basis of the above discussion it seems reasonable to conclude that inorganic chemistry is as much an entity as any of the other fields of chemistry. The individuals who work in the field of inorganic chemistry are faced with data which indicate that the quality of research is below average. They are also faced with the challenge of establishing and maintaining a, new Division within the Society. Both problems involve the question of just what constitutes inorganic chemistry. It is concluded that the inconsistency in the application of the term inorganic chemistry makes the meaning of the data on the rejection of papers by the Journal uncertain. It is also concluded that inorganic chemistry is as much an entity as any of the other branches, and that therefore the organization of the new Division is a reasonable step to take.
