metallorganic

Metallorganic, often used as a variant of metallorganics or organometallic, refers to compounds in which a metal is covalently bonded to a carbon atom of an organic fragment. In modern terminology the standard term is organometallic chemistry, but metallorganic appears in some literature and regional usages. The field studies the properties, structures, bonding, synthesis, and reactivity of metal–carbon bonds, spanning main-group and transition metals and a wide range of ligands.

Structural motifs include metal alkyls and aryls, metal carbonyls, and metallocenes (for example ferrocene) where carbon-based ligands coordinate to a metal with distinctive bonding and electron counts. The scope also covers reagents used in organic synthesis, such as Grignard reagents (alkyl or aryl metal halides of magnesium) and organolithiums, as well as transition-metal complexes employed as catalysts in various transformations.

Key reactions in organometallic chemistry involve oxidative addition, migratory insertion, reductive elimination, and transmetalation, which underpin catalytic cycles in cross-coupling, hydrofunctionalization, and polymerization. Synthesis of organometallic compounds often proceeds via oxidative addition to low-valent metals, transmetallation from other organometallic precursors, or insertion of unsaturated substrates into existing metal–carbon bonds.

Applications span chemical synthesis, industrial catalysis, and materials science, with ferrocene standing as a landmark discovery illustrating the stability and utility of metallocene compounds. The field continues to advance through ligand and metal design to enable novel reactivity, improved efficiency, and sustainable catalytic processes.