Electron deficient compounds

The book opens with the structure of diborane and how its bonding was worked out, then moves on to higher boranes and boron polyhedra. It includes a topological approach to boron hydrides and a detailed look at the structure and bonding of pentaborane(9), B5H9.

Later chapters cover the general chemistry of the boron hydrides. Topics include some thermodynamic background, vacuum handling techniques, the preparation and interconversion of these compounds, and their reactions. The text then turns to associated metal hydrides, alkyls and aryls, with sections on organo-aluminium compounds, bridging groups involving gallium, indium and thallium, organo-beryllium and -magnesium compounds, alkali metal alkyls, and some carbide structures.

The final chapters address carboranes, including the dicarba-closo-dodecaboranes and related dicarba-nido-borane anions and their metal complexes, and close with other examples of electron deficient bonding, such as bridged carbonium ions, transition metal cluster compounds and transition metal-hydrocarbon pi-complexes. Each chapter ends with problems, and answers to the problems are provided.