Hypercarbon Chemistry

This pioneering text is the first to point out the emerging significance of higher-valent carbon compounds. It describes the compounds of carbon with coordination numbers greater than four, and explores the delocalized bonds ofaromatic molecules as a basis for rational description of orbitals; localized multicentered orbitals; the interactions of metallic ions with other atoms and molecules; the skeletal electron counts as a guide for synthesis; and the isolobal concept. The book illustrates the way in which these subjects bring together structure and reactivity in the great diversity of novel carbon chemistry and its relationship to that of boron, lithium, hydrogen, the metals, and others.