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Metallocenes
Nicholas J. Long. Blackwell Science, Inc.: Malden, MA, 1998. 285 pp. ISBN 0-632-04162-5. $54.95.
Informative, readable, unpretentious. That is how I would describe Nicholas Long's book if I were asked to do it in just three words. Indeed, the book under review is a straightforward, balanced survey of metallocene chemistry all across the periodic table, written in a textbook format and aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the field.
Covering from synthetic methodologies and reactivity patterns to structural and bonding aspects of the so-called "sandwich" complexes, it is a candid compendium of a virtually limitless area of organometallic chemistry. It is interesting to note that a more authoritative, two-volume set on metallocenes was published almost simultaneously (Metallocenes; Togni, A.; Halterman, R. L., Eds.; Wiley-VCH: New York, 1998; ISBN 3-527-29539-9; $265.00). However, with the exception of the title and year of publication, the latter is quite different in scope and organization, having a clear emphasis on early transition-metal chemistry and separate chapters written by invited experts.
Long's book is divided into six chapters, starting with Chapter 1 introducing the...