The development of transition metal chemistry in the United States of America

Abstract

The study of complex inorganic compounds in America began more than a century ago, but very few chemists were involved in it until the 1920s. Since that time, research on both the theoretical and descriptive aspects of the subject has expanded at a tremendous rate. The early work was concerned largely with the metal ammines and hydrates, but in more recent years, it has expanded into phosphines, ~rsines, carbonyls, complexes of eiemental oxygen and nitrogen, compounds containing metal-metal bonds, and a variety of organometallics. The development of modern instrumentation has been of great help, especially in the study of bonding and structure.New oxidation states and new coordination numbers have been found, and the stereochemistry of the latter have been explored. Reaction mechanisms have been studied extensively. There is now a great deal of activity in the use of coordination compounds as catalysts and in their role in biochemistry.Although Americans are proud of their accomplishments in the field of COordination chemistry, they recognize that chemists in many parts of the world have contributed and that no country can stand alone in the development of this or any other science.