Physical methods in the characterisation of inorganic substances

Inorganic chemists, are interested in chemical reactions as well as the static properties of substances. The measurement of thermodynamic quantities for chemical reactions will not concern us, although we will make extensive use of the experimental results elsewhere in this book. In Chapter 9 we will look in more detail at inorganic reactions and their mechanisms blow-by-blow accounts of what actually happens at the atomic level as the reaction proceeds. Some of the spectroscopic methods described in this chapter are important in mechanistic studies they may be used to follow the rate of a reaction or to identify short-lived intermediates. Other techniques (such as isotopic labelling) are useful in the determination of reaction mechanisms. 

This material has been placed early in the book because structural and spectroscopic data are invoked in practically every other chapter. However, the reader whose previous acquaintance with molecular orbital (MO) theory and molecular symmetry is negligible might find a cursory reading of Chapter 7 useful, especially before tackling Sections 2.6-2.8. 

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