Mercury: Organometallic ChemistryBased in part on the article Mercury: Organometallic Chemistry by Richard C. Larock which appeared in the Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry, First Edition .

Abstract

Studies involving the preparation, reactivity, and properties of the organometallic complexes of iron (compounds possessing a FeC bond) have played a central role in the growth of organometallics as a major subdiscipline with chemistry. From the discovery of ferrocene in the 1950s to the present day, interest and research activity remain high. This entry provides a survey of this large and diverse area of organometallic chemistry, and is arranged by increasing hapticity of the organic ligand of interest that is bound to iron. Included are discussions of the chemistry of iron σ-alkyl, acyl, alkynyl, and vinyl complexes, iron carbenes, η1- and η3-allyl iron complexes, η2-alkene and η4-diene iron complexes, trimethylenemethane and cyclobutadiene complexes of iron, cationic iron pentadienyl, cyclohexadienyl, and arene complexes, and ferrocenes and heteroferrocenes.