PART II INORGANIC CHEMISTRY 7 Introduction By D. C. BRADLEY Department of Chemistry Queen Mary College Mile End Road London El 4NS I begin this report by paying tribute to my predecessor as Senior Reporter Professor Michael Lappert and his team of Reporters for their valuable contributions during the previous three years. Also I wish to explain the change in format of this year’s Report and the coverage of the literature which this entails. Following the demise of some of the Specialist Periodical Reports concerning Inorganic chemistry it was clear that changes in the Annual Reports would be required to remedy the ensuing lack of coverage of the Inorganic field. Accordingly the Publications Board of the Chemical Society decided to expand the coverage of Inorganic chemistry in Section A beginning with the 1978 Report and this has led to a reappraisal of the content and depth of treatment of the subject.In a sense it means “putting the clock back” towards the type of treatment given before the advent of the various Specialist Periodical Reports. This year’s Report is thus a transitional stage and we crave the readers’ indulgence to any imperfections which arise and promise to do better next year. The field is divided broadly into three Sections dealing with Typical Elements (s-and p-blocks) Transition Elements (d-and f-blocks) and Organometallic Chemistry. There is inevitably and I trust justifiably some duplication of material between these Sections; this is particularly so for organometallic compounds where the same compound could be featured both in Section 3 and in the appropriate earlier Section 1or 2 pertaining to the metal involved.There will be differences in emphasis on this and other matters by the different Reporters. Looking at the overall picture presented by this year’s Report on inorganic chemistry one sees a continuation of the rapid progress in several areas which have developed in recent years; cluster molecules of various kinds involving all types of elements (e.g. polyboranes,. carbaboranes metallo-carbaboranes poly-nuclear metal carbonyls metal-sulphur clusters poly-sulphur and -selenium cations etc.); organometallic chemistry on a wide front with ever more exotic types of metal- carbon bonding; bio-inorganic chemistry; macrocyclic multidentate ligands; metal- metal multiple bonding; and the synthesis of reactive or unstable species using metal atom matrix-isolation techniques at very low temperatures.X-ray crystallography plays an increasingly important role in structural inorganic chemistry and where suitable crystals are not available the developing technique of XAFS may provide vital structural information. Laser Raman (including resonance Raman) poly- nuclear FT-n.m.r. and photon electron spectroscopic studies are also increasingly being applied to gain insight into the constitution of inorganic molecules. 155 156 D. C.Bradley Among the books published in 1978 the monographs on phosphorus’ and gold2 were referred to in last year’s Report. Monographs on Metal Alkoxides3 and Metal P-Diketonates4 have also been published. D. E. C. Corbridge ‘Phosphorus an Outline of its Chemistry Biochemistry and Technology’ Elsevier Amsterdam 1978. R. J. Puddephatt ‘The Chemistry of Gold’ Elsevier Amsterdam 1978. D. C. Bradley R. C. Mehrotra and D. P. Gaur ‘Metal Alkoxides’ Academic Press London 1978. R. C. Mehrotra R. Bohra and D. P. Gaur ‘Metal 0-Diketonates’ Academic Press London 1978.