metalloorganische

Metalloorganische chemistry, sometimes called organometallic chemistry, studies chemical compounds that contain a direct metal–carbon bond. The carbon fragment is part of an organic group such as an alkyl, aryl, alkenyl, or alkynyl moiety, or a carbonyl ligand. Notable subclasses include metal–alkyl and metal–aryl complexes, metal–carbonyl complexes, carbenes and carbynes bound to metals, and metallocene structures like Fe(C5H5)2. The defining feature is a covalent M–C bond, enabling unique reactivity and catalytic properties.

Most work centers on transition metals, though main-group elements can form organometallic species as well. Important concepts include electron counting and stability rules such as the 18-electron rule, the distinction between σ-donor and π-acceptor ligands, and backbonding that strengthens or weakens M–C bonds. Reactions common to the field include oxidative addition, migratory insertion, migratory elimination, and transmetallation, which underpin catalytic cycles.

Historically, the field emerged from mid-20th century work by Ernst Otto Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson, whose pioneering organometallic chemistry led to the 1973 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Today, organometallic complexes are widely used as homogeneous catalysts in industrial and laboratory processes. Examples include hydroformylation and hydrogenation catalysts, Ziegler–Natta and metallocene polymerization catalysts, and olefin metathesis catalysts such as Grubbs systems. The Dutch term metalloorganische chemie is used in some contexts to refer to the same area, which is otherwise called organometallic chemistry in English.