Different types of compounds. Part II
Transition metal compounds
Copper phthalocyanine is a transition metal compound related to haem.
Compounds containing metals from group 4 to 11 are considered transition
metal compounds. Compounds with a metal from group 3 or 12 are sometimes
also incorporated into this group, but also often classified as main group
compounds.
Transition metal compounds show a rich coordination chemistry, varying from
tetrahedral for titanium (e.g. TiCl4) to square planar for some nickel
complexes to octahedral for coordination complexes of cobalt. A range of
transition metals can be found in biologically important compounds, such as
iron in hemoglobin.
• Examples: iron pentacarbonyl, titanium tetrachloride, cisplatin
Organometallic compounds
Organolithium reagents are most often found in polymeric form, such as
n-butyllithium.
Usually, organometallic compounds are considered to contain the M-C-H group.
The metal (M) in these species can either be a main group element or a
transition metal. Operationally, the definition of an organometallic
compound is more relaxed to include also highly lipophilic complexes such as
metal carbonyls and even metal alkoxides.
Organometallic compounds are mainly considered a special category because
organic ligands are often sensitive to hydrolysis or oxidation,
necessitating that organometallic chemistry employs more specialized
preparative methods than was traditional in Werner-type complexes. Synthetic
methodology, especially the ability to manipulate complexes in solvents of
low coordinating power, enabled the exploration of very weakly coordinating
ligands such as hydrocarbons, H2, and N2. Because the ligands are
petrochemicals in some sense, the area of organometallic chemistry has
greatly benefited from its relevance to industry.
• Examples: Cyclopentadienyliron dicarbonyl dimer (C5H5)Fe(CO)2CH3,
Ferrocene Fe(C5H5)2, Molybdenum hexacarbonyl Mo(CO)6, Diborane B2H6,
Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) Pd[P(C6H5)3]4