Organometallic compounds, with their metal–carbon bonds, lie at the interface between classical organic and inorganic chemistry in dealing with the interaction between inorganic metal species and organic molecules. In the related metal–organic compound area, in contrast, the organic fragment is bound only by metal–heteroatom bonds.
The organometallic field has provided a series of important conceptual insights, surprising structures, and useful catalysts both for industrial processes and for organic synthesis. Many catalysts are capable of very high levels of asymmetric induction in preferentially forming one enantiomer of a chiral product. The field is beginning to make links with biochemistry with the discovery of enzymes that carry out organometallic catalysis (e.g., acetyl CoA synthase). Ideas drawn from organometallic chemistry have helped interpret the chemistry of metal and metal oxide surfaces, both key actors in heterogeneous catalysis. The field is also creating links with the chemistry of materials because organometallic and metal–organic compounds are increasingly preferred as the precursors for depositing materials on various substrates via thermal decomposition of the metal compound. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are also benefiting with the use of such compounds as the most common precursors for nanoparticles. These small particles of a metal or alloy, with properties quite unlike the bulk material, are finding more and more useful applications in electronic, magnetic, or optical
devices or in sensors.
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