Nomenclature of organometallic compounds

Nomenclature of organometallic compounds of the transition elements (lUPAC recommendations) 99PAC1557. 

An area of current development is the nomenclature of organometallic compounds. Organometallic compounds of Main Group elements can, to a first approximation, be considered to be derivatives of hydrides, and the methods of substitutive nomenclature can be applied. Even then, the accessibility of different oxidation states, as with phosphorus(iii) and phosphorus(v), introduces complications. Transition metal organometallic compounds are even more difficult to treat, and the development of a unified, self-consistent and accepted and applied nomenclature is not easy. Witness the different ways (k, t and italicised symbols) for denoting donor atoms in ligands. 

The Editor would draw attention to the unsatisfactory state of the nomenclature of organometallic compounds in general. The designations of compounds in Volume XI. are those used in the original memoirs, since any attempt to alter these in a work of that description would only complicate matters. 

Nomenclature of Organometallic Compounds of the Transition Elements, A. Salzer, Pure Appl. Chem., 71, 1557-1585 (1999). 

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