Physical Inorganic Chemistry: A Coordination Chemistry Approach

by S.F.A. Kettle

Inorganic chemistry has in recent years been changing dramatically, with coordination chemistry in particular undergoing a striking resurgence of interest. This has been fuelled by the growth in importance of metals in biology and medicine, and by the new and explosive thrusts into inorganic materials. These changes mean that today's student of inorganic chemistry needs a greater knowledge and understanding of physical inorganic chemistry. Embracing such topics as bonding state chemistry and cluster chemistry, the discipline underpins the whole of modern inorganic chemistry. This theme spans virtually the whole of physical inorganic chemistry; and an important benefit of this approach is that the book doubles as a text on coordination chemistry itself. Physical Inorganic Chemistry is a an accessible, largely non-mathematical text which bridges the gap between the relatively low-level treatments currently available and the specialists, research-level ones. It provides an account of the traditional areas of the subject, combining this with an introduction to important contemporary research areas, the whole viewed from an integrated theoretical perspective. Each chapter is self-contained, allowing maximum flexibility in course-text use. '[This text] represents a wonderful bridge for the student. It is designed as an intermediate-level that can serve both as a user-friendly introduction to a large number of topics and techniques of importance to the student of coordination and physical inorganic chemistry, and also as a springboard to more advanced texts and studies. It is written in a style that is appropriate for a teaching text, anticipating and answering the questions that students will typically have on encountering the topic for the first time, and introduces a large number of theoretical, spectroscopic and physicochemical techniques without sacrificing the more classical content of a coordination chemistry text. In this regard, it is a wonderful hybrid of the classic and modern aspects of coordination and physical inorganic chemistry and is consequently an admirable text for the student of this area'.

506 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Anas Khan]

good & optimist.