PART ll INORGANIC CHEMISTR 7 Introduction By D. W. A. SHARP Department of Chemistry University of Glasgow Glasgow G 12 800 The general form of the 1972 Annual Reports (Vol. 69) on Inorganic Chemistry is essentially the same as that of Volume 68. With the still increasing literature on inorganic chemistry reviewers have had to be rather more selective in their coverage of the subject this year but it is hoped that most of the major develop-ments have been recorded ; reviews take account of the Specialist Periodical Reports which should provide comprehensive cover of particular aspects. Amongst the mass of significant developments most interesting are the charac-terization of germanium and tin carbonyls (p. 225 ref. 71) by matrix techniques and of Pd(CO) and Pt(CO) (p.327 ref. 89). The preparation of hexamethyl-tungsten (p. 344 ref. 205) and the full characterization of species CrR (p. 343, refs. 197 198 201) completely support the view that transition metal-carbon bonds are normal. Probably the most interesting and useful new journal to inorganic chemists which has appeared recently is Synthesis in Inorganic and Metal-Organic Chemistry to which several references will be found in subsequent pages. The new volume of Inorganic Syntheses contains many recipes for the preparation of transition-metal (many Werner type) complexes main-group element compounds and low oxidation-state transition-metal complexes of e.g. phosphines. New volumes of Gmelin include coverage of carbon (system number 14) tin (46) lead (47) niobium (49) iron (59) silver (61) and the transuranium elements (71).The new pattern of Chemical Society review publications involves Chemical Society Reviews and significant reviews published in this journal are referred to below. The M.T.P. International Review of Science-Inorganic Chemistry-Series 1-provides a comprehensive background to many areas of inorganic chemistry. Amongst the new general reviews and articles on inorganic chemistry published during the year should be mentioned the following considerations of more theoretical aspects of the subject ; the Tilden Lecture on valence in transition-metal complexes ;2 discussions of electron-counting in cluster species ;3 the geometry of AH species ; and the persistence of atomic orbitals in compound^.^ ' F. A. Cotton (Editor) Inorg.Synth. 1972 XIII. ' K. Wade Inorg. Nuclear Chem. Letters 1972 8 559 563 823. R. Mason Chem. SOC. Rev. 1972 1 431. W. A. Lathan W. J. Hehre L. A. Curtiss and J. A. Pople J. Arner. Chem. SOC. 1971, 93 6377. C. J. Jrargensen Accounts Chem. Res. 1971,4 307. 17 172 D. W. A . Sharp On the thermodynamic side the thermochemistry of the chemical bond6 and the critical constants of inorganic substances7 have been considered. Physical techniques reviewed include metal isotope effects on vibrational spectra,* the vibrational spectra of intra- inter- and semi-metal bondsg and of solids." Aspects of ligand-field spectroscopy leading to information on the weak interac-tions between polyhedra in crystals have also been covered. The general theory of the magnetic susceptibilities and exchange coupling of cluster compounds12, and chemical applications of photoelectron spectroscopy l 3 ESCA l 4 and X-ray spectroscopy,' magnetic resonance techniques for the study of solid-state compounds,'6 and the electronic states of transition-metal complexes have been surveyed as have the use of conductivity measurements for characterisation of co-ordination compounds," co-ordination numbers of metal ions in solution ' and the kinetics of water exchange between solvent and co-ordination sphere in aquated transition-metal ions.20 Specific reviews have appeared on discharge techniques,2 photochemical reactions of solid-state transition-metal compounds,23 catalysis by metallo-enzyme~,~~ the relation between the 16- and 18-electron rules and catalytic behaviour and organometallic compound f o r m a t i ~ n ~ ~ the gauche effect,26 isomerism in metal P-diketonate~,~' thio-/3-diketonates,28 complexes of quadridentate Schiff's bases,29 paper chromatography of metal halide and thio-cyanate complexes,3o transition-metal hydride~,~ the crystal chemistry of decomposition of organometallics in a mass spectrometer,2 V.Gutmann and U. Mayer Structure and Bonding 1972,10 127. K. Nakamoto Angew Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 666. E. Maslowsky jun. Chem. Rev. 1971,71 507. ' J. F. Mathews Chem. Rev. 1972,72 71. l o H. J. Becher Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 26. l 1 D. Reinen Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn 1971 10 901. l 2 J. S. Griffith Structure and Bonding 1972 10 87; A. P. Ginsburg Inorg. Chim. Acta, l 3 A.D . Baber C. R. Brundle and M. Thompson Chem. SOC. Rev. 1972,1 355. l 4 C. Nordling Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 83. l 5 A. Faessler Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 34. l 6 A. Weiss Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 607. '' D. R. Eaton and K. Zaw Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1971 7 197. W. J. Geary Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1971 7 81. l9 S. F. Lincoln Co-ordinarion Chem. Rev. 1971 6 309; J. F. Hinton and E. S. Amis, Chem. Rev. 1971 71,627. 2 o J. P. Hunt Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1971 7 1. 2 1 J. E. Drake and N. P. C. Westwood Synth. in Inorg. and Metal-Org. Chem. 1972 2, 2 2 J. Muller Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 653. 2 3 E. L. Simmons and W. W. Wendlandt Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1971,7 11. 2 4 R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chim. Acta Rev.1971.5 137. 2 5 C. A. Tolman Chem. SOC. Rev. 1972,1 337. 2-b S. Wolfe Accounts. Chem. Res. 1972 5 102. 2 7 J. J. Fortman Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1971 6 331. 2 8 2 9 30 S. Przeszlakowski Chromatog. Rev. 1971 15 29. 3 1 Rev. 1971 5 45. 157. M. Cox and J. Darken Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1971 7 29. M. Calligaris G. Nardin and L. Randaccio Co-ordination Chem. Rev. 1972,7 385. H. D . Kaesz and R. B. Saillant Chem. Rev. 1972,72 231 Introduction 173 complex carbides,32 complexes of poly(tertiary-ph~sphines),~ double a l k ~ x i d e s ~ ~ metal cluster^,^' triatomic pseudo halide^,^^ A1"-BV phase diagrams and melts,37 nitrogen fixation,38 the effect of metal complexes in cancer therapy,39 and inorganic fibres.40 Also published this year are proceedings of the 13th Co-ordination Chemistry4' and the 5th Organometallic Chemistry meetings.42 Definitive rules are now available on the nomenclature of inorganic ~hemistry:~ and the nomenclature of inorganic boron comp0unds,4~ and a suggested sym-bolism for chiral and achiral complexes has been described.45 The 1971 table of atomic weights is now available.46 Hydrogen is now recorded as 1.0079 and other changes now give potassium and zinc atomic weights of 39.098 and 65.38 respectively.32 H. Nowotny Angew. Chem. internat. Edn. 1972 11 906. 3 3 R. B. King Accounts. Chem. Res. 1972 5 177. 3 4 R. C. Mehrotra and A. Mehrotra Inorg. Chim. Acta Rev. 1971,5 127. 35 R. B. King Progr. Inorg. Chem. 1972 15 287; T. W. Thomas and A. E. Underhill, 3 6 Z. Iqbal Structure and Bonding 1972 10 25. 3' L. I. Marina Russ. Chem. Rev. 1971 608. J. Chatt and G. J. Leigh Chem. SOC. Rev. 1972 1 121. 3 9 D. R. Williams Chem. Rev. 1972 72 203. 40 G. Winter Angew. Chem. Internat. Edn. 1972 11 751. 4 1 Pure Appl. Chem. 1971,27 1 . 4 2 Pure Appl. Chem. 1972,30 335. 4 3 Pure Appl. Chem. 1971,28 1 . 44 Pure Appl. Chem. 1972,30 683. 4 s U. Thewalt K. A. Jensen and C. E. Schaffer Inorg. Chem. 1972 11 2129. 46 Pure Appl. Chem. 1972,30 639. Chem. SOC. Rev. 1972 1 99