Low and High Oxidation States in Organometallic Chemistry

A total of 14,000 organometallic compounds synthesized and characterized up to a few years ago are listed in the “Dictionary of Organometallic Chemistry,” while the properties and chemistry of these compounds are described on 8,500 printed pages of “Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry” edited in 1984. Why has there been ever-increasing worldwide activity in organometallic chemistry since the days when ferrocene showed up in the literature? More importantly, what appear to be the future main lines of research and to which goals should we dedicate our efforts? This Comment,¹based on a historical background, endeavors to exemplify the present status of organometallic chemistry within the spectrum of the neighboring disciplines of chemistry. By virtue of several examples of the author’s scientific interests, one particular area of research will be discussed that has largely been neelected in oreanometallic chemistry up to the present.