In the ten years since the scientific rationale for the design, synthesis and application of inorganic and organometallic polymers (IOPs) was first conceptualised, we have witnessed the first tentative exploration of IOPs as precursors to new materials, with efforts focusing on the design and synthesis of novel ceramic precursors. Developing expertise led to precursor studies combined with the characterisation of the transformation processes that occur when IOPs are converted to ceramic materials. Now at maturity, the science presented in this volume reveals the polymer precursor approach to materials synthesis together with examples of processing ceramic shapes for a range of mechanical properties, the development of sophisticated, noninvasive analytical techniques, and IOP design rationales relying on well-defined processing-property relationships. The production of multifunctional IOPs is described, providing ion conductivity, gas sensing, bioactivity, magnetic properties, etc., combined with processability. The existence of well-defined IOPs and the exquisite control that can be exerted on sol-gel systems now provide access to such a variety of mixed organic-organometallic and/or inorganic hybrid systems that their exploitation is likely to develop into an entirely new field of materials chemistry. Future exciting avenues of research are also being opened up with the advent of buckyballs, Met-Cars, dopable preceramics, rigid-rod organometallics, and molecular tinkertoys.

In this book, the problem of electron and hole transport is approached from the point of view that a coherent and consistent physical theory can be constructed for transport phenomena. Along the road readers will visit some exciting citadels in theoretical physics as the authors guide them through the strong and weak aspects of the various theoretical constructions. Our goal is to make clear the mutual coherence and to put each theoretical model in an appropriate perspective. The mere fact that so many partial solutions have been proposed to describe transport, be it in condensed matter, fluids, or gases, illustrates that we are entering a world of physics with a rich variety of phenomena. Theoretical physics always seeks to provide a unifying picture. By presenting this tour of many very inventive attempts to build such a picture, it is hoped that the reader will be inspired and encouraged to help find the unifying principle behind the many faces of transport.

Rapid advances are taking place in the application of density functional theory (DFT) to describe complex electronic structures, to accurately treat large systems and to predict physical and chemical properties. Both theoretical content and computational methodology are developing at a pace which offers researchers new opportunities in areas such as quantum chemistry, cluster science, and solid state physics. This volume contains ten contributions by leading scientists in the field and provides an authoritative overview of the most important developments. The book focuses on the following themes: determining adequate approximations for the many-body problem of electronic correlations; how to transform these approximations into computational algorithms; applications to discover and predict properties of electronic systems; and developing the theory. For researchers in surface chemistry, catalysis, ceramics and inorganic chemistry.

This volume entitled Advanced Science and Technology of Sintering, contains the edited Proceedings of the Ninth World Round Table Conference on Sintering (IX WRTCS), held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, September 1-4 1998. The gathering was one in a series of World Round Table Conferences on Sintering organised every four years by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) and the International Institute for the Science of Sintering (IISS). The World Round Table Conferences on Sintering have been traditionally held in Yugoslavia. The first meeting was organised in Herceg Novi in 1969 and since then they have regularly gathered the scientific elite in the science of sintering. It is not by chance that, at these conferences, G. C. Kuczynski, G. V. Samsonov, R. Coble, Ya. E. Geguzin and other great names in this branch of science presented their latest results making great qualitative leaps in the its development. Belgrade hosted this conference for the first time. It was chosen as a reminder that 30 years ago it was the place where the International Team for Sintering was formed, further growing into the International Institute for the Science of Sintering. The IX WRTCS lasted four days. It included 156 participants from 17 countries who presented the results of their theoretical and experimental research in 130 papers in the form of plenary lectures, oral presentations and poster sections.

The history of the rare earths has entered its third century; trans uranium elements are now a half century old. Both the lanthanide and actinide ele- ments, 30 elements altogether, are f elements, meaninj that their metallic 2 1 1 electronic configurations are typically 6s 5d 4f" and 7s 6d 5f" respectively. To an elementary approximation as summarized in the 'average inorganic chemistry textbook, these configurations cause their chemistry to be described by the trivalent state accompanied by less interesting effects such as the lanthanide contraction. However, the discovery of divalent and tetravalent lanthanides and di- to seven-valent actinides hinted at the existence of more interesting although still classic solid-state and coor- dination chemistry. Metallic halides and chalcogenides and electron-poor cluster compounds have been the outgrowth of many synthetic efforts during the past 25 years or so. These days, one can say that the lan- thanides and actinides are not at all boring; the fascination arises from every element being an individual, having its own chemistry.

This book documents the proceedings of the symposium "Fundamentals and Applications of Anion Separations" held during American Chemical Society National Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, August 25-30, 200I. Nearly 40 papers devoted to discussions on anion separation related to fundamental research and applications were presented. The symposium, sponsored by Osram Sylvania, BetzDearbom, and the Separation Science & Technology Subdivision of the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society was organized by Bruce A. Moyer, Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Building. 4500S, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6119, and Raj P. Singh, Chemicals and Powders R&D, Osram Sylvania, Chemical and Metallurgical Products Division, Towanda, PA 18848. It drew presenters from Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Separations constitute an integral part of chemical industry. Chemical products typically originate in resources that must be concentrated and purified, chemically transformed, and subjected to fmal purification. Effluent streams from the processes must be treated to recycle reusable components and to remove environmentally harmful species. Some industrial processes are devoted to environmental cleanup after pollution has occurred. In addition, many analytical methods require a separation for preconcentration, or a separation may be an inherent part of the analysis itself. Micro separations occurring at membranes or interfaces are also related phenomena employed for ion sensing. Many species targeted for separation are naturally anionic. Although the standard separations techniques ofextraction, ion exchange, adsorption, precipitation, etc.

Selective Oxidation by Heterogeneous Catalysis covers one of the major areas of industrial petrochemical production, outlining open questions and new opportunities. It gives keys for the interpretation and analysis of data and design of new catalysts and reactions, and provides guidelines for future research. A distinctive feature of this book is the use of concept by example. Rather than reporting an overview of the literature results, the authors have selected some representative examples, the in-depth analysis of which makes it possible to clarify the fundamental, but new concepts necessary for a better understanding of the new opportunities in this field and the design of new catalysts or catalytic reactions. Attention is given not only to the catalyst itself, but also to the use of the catalyst inside the process, thus evidencing the relationship between catalyst design and engineering aspects of the process. This book provides suggestions for new innovative directions of research and indications on how to reconsider the field of selective oxidation from different perspectives, outlining that is not a mature field of research, but that new important breakthroughs can be derived from fundamental and applied research. Suggestions are offered on how to use less conventional approaches in terms of both catalyst design and analysis of the data.

"A Structural and Vibrational Study of the Chromyl Chlorosulfate, Fluorosulfate and Nitrate Compounds" presents important studies related to the structural and vibrational properties on the chromyl compounds based on Ab-initio calculations. The synthesis and the study of such properties are of chemical importance because the stereo-chemistries and reactivities of these compounds are strongly dependent on the coordination modes that adopt the different ligands linked to the chromyl group.
In this book, the geometries of all stable structures in gas phase for chromyl chlorosulfate, fluorosulfate, and nitrate are optimized by using Density functional Theory (DFT). Then, the complete assignments of all observed bands in the infrared and Raman spectra are performed combining DFT calculations with Pulays Scaled Quantum Mechanics Force Field (SQMFF) methodology and taking into account the type of coordination adopted by the chlorosulfate, fluorosulfate and nitrate ligands as monodentate and bidentate. Moreover, the force constants for each compound at the same levels of theory are calculated. As a result, the bond orders calculated and the topological properties of electronic charge density reveal the characteristics and nature of the different bonds in each structure."

The state-of-the-art in contemporary theoretical chemistry is presented in this 4-volume set with numerous contributions from the most highly regarded experts in their field. It provides a concise introduction and critical evaluation of theoretical approaches in relation to experimental evidence.

MICHAEL T. POPE AND ACHIM MULLER Department of Chemistry, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-2222, U.S.A.; Department of Chemistry, University of Bielefeld, D-4BOO Bielefeld 1, F.R.G. Polyoxometalates, from their discovery and early development in the final decades of the 19th century to their current significance in disciplines as diverse as chemistry, mathematics, and medicine, continue to display surprisingly novel structures, unexpected reactivities and applications, and to attract increasing attention worldwide. Most of the contributors to the present volume participated in the workshop held at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld, July 15-17, 1992. The choice of topics illustrates some of the variety of directions and fields in which polyoxometalates can play an important role. Although many of the leading polyoxometalate research groups are represented here, we regret that time constraints, financial limitations, and in some cases difficulties of communication did not allow us to include significant and imp- tant work from other groups outside Europe and North America. In the following we briefly review the current status of the field of po- oxometalates.

Starting at the dawn of science, History of Industrial Gases traces the development of gas theory from its Aristotelian roots to its modern achievements as a global industry. Dr. Almqvist explores how environmental protection, geographical areas, and the drive for higher purity and efficiency affected development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and how they will influence the future of this rapidly expanding industry. The roles of major contributing companies are also discussed to provide an informative and thought-provoking treatise valuable to anyone who studies or works in this fascinating field.

"Nanotechnology" is now very well known as one of the most important key technologies in science and industry. In the field of material science and engineering, nanoparticles should be unit materials, as well as atoms and molecules, to build ceramics, devices, catalysts, and machines, and the "nanoparticle technology" is thus attracting. This novel technology includes various methodologies for nanoparticles: preparation, surface-modification via chemical and/or physical treatments, immobilization and arrangement on supports or substrates, to achieve high performance for luminescence properties in light emitting devices, and high efficiency for catalytic and photocatalytic reactions in chemical synthesis, chemical decomposition, and artificial photosynthesis, etc. It should be needless to say that the preparation of nanoparticles, having precisely controlled particle size, size distribution, chemical composition, and surface properties, is essentially important to realize "true nanoparticle technology". This book, written by Dr. Dibyendu Ganguli and Dr. Munia Ganguli, deals with the preparation methodologies for inorganic nanoparticles using macro- and microemulsions as "microreactor". There are several differences between these two emulsions, in addition to water droplet size: thermodynamic stability, and fusion-redispersion dynamics of the droplets. The properties of the nanoparticles prepared in these emulsion systems are seriously influenced and controlled by the selection of dynamic and static conditions.

Since the introduction of quantum mechanics, the general theory of solid state physics has developed very rapidly. To date, a number of good textbooks on general solid state physics have been written. However, research in solid state physics has become highly specialized and undertaken in narrow fields. There is thus a great need for elementary textbooks that deal in detail with the study of solids in a particular field in order to give students basic knowledge in that field. Metallic solids with an impurity, generally called alloys, are of immense importance from both fundamental and technological points of view. The pioneering work of Bloember gen and Rowland (1953) gave considerable impetus to the study of the electronic structure of metallic alloys. Serious theoretical study in this field started in 1960 and, during the last two decades, considerable success in understanding the electronic structure of simple metal alloys has been achieved. Nonetheless the theoretical study of dilute alloys of transition metals is still in its infancy. At present there are few review articles and original research papers that examine the role of an impurity with respect to the electronic structure and properties of metallic alloys. Because of the absence of an elementary textbook that presents a comprehensive account of different aspects of the electronic structure of metallic alloys, I have written this elementary textbook on the theory of the electronic structure of metallic alloys.

Polymers continue to show almost amazing versatility. We have always known that polymers could be used for trinkets, toys and dishes. Now, however, we are no longer surprised to encounter these adaptable mate rials in almost every place we look. We find them in our cars, tools, electronic devices, building materials, etc. The use of polymeric mate rials in medicine is also well documented in previous books by one of the Editors (Gebelein) and by others. Likewise, the use of polymeric mate rials in pharmaceutical applications, especially in controlled release systems, is also well established. Nevertheless, the use of these ubiquitous chemicals is far less ob vious in the field of cosmetics, although modern cosmetic preparations rely heavily on polymers and this trend is certain to increase. This book brings together much of the basic information on polymers in cosmetics and compares this usage with similar applications in pharmaceutical and medical applications. Cosmetics, like medicine and pharmacy, dates back to antiquity. We can find uses of perfumes, balms and ointments in various old books, such as the Bible. For example, the use of ointments and balms is noted more than thirty eight times, and perfumes and related materials are cited at least twenty nine times in the Bible."

Mixed valency is one of various names used to describe compounds which contain ions of the same element in two different formal states of oxidation. The existence of mixed valency systems goes far back into the geological evolutionary history of the earth and other planets, while a plethora of mixed valency minerals has attracted attention since antiquity. Indeed, control of the oxidation states of Fe in its oxides (FeO, Fe304' Fe203) was elegantly used in vase painting by the ancient Greeks to produce the characteristic black and red Attic ceramics (Z. Goffer, "Archaeological Chemistry," Wiley, New York, 1980). It was, however, only 25 years ago that two reviews of mixed valency appeared in the literature almost simultaneously, signalling the first attempt to treat mixed valency systems as a separate class of compounds whose properties can be correlated with the molecular and the electronic structure of their members. Then mixed valency phenomena attracted the interest of disparate classes of scientists, ranging from synthetic chemists to solid state physicists and from biologists to geologists. This activity culminated with the NATO ASI meeting in Oxford in 1979. The 1980's saw again a continuing upsurge of interest in mixed valency. Its presence is a necessary factor in the search for highly conducting materials, including molecular metals and superconductors. The highly celebrated high T c ceramic superconducting oxides are indeed mixed valency compounds.

Maximum Entropy (ME) techniques have found widespread applicability in the reconstruction of incomplete or noisy data. These techniques have been applied in many areas of data analysis including imaging, spectroscopy, and scattering [Gull and Skilling, 1984]. The techniques have proven particularly useful in astronomy [Narayan and Nityanada, 1984]. In many of these applications the goal of the reconstruction is the detection of point objects against a noisy background. In this work we investigate the applicability of ME techniques to data sets which have strong components which are periodic in space or time. The specific interest in our laboratory is High Resolution Electron Micrographs of beam sensitive materials. However, ME techniques are of general interest for all types of data. These data mayor may not have a spatial or temporal character. Figure 1 shows an HREM image of the rigid-rod polymer poly(paraphenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBZO). The 0.55 nm spacings in the image correspond to the lateral close-packing between the extended polymer molecules. Near the center of this crystallite there is evidence for an edge dislocation. In HREM images both the frequency and position of the infonnation is important for a proper interpretation. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how image processing affects the fidelity of this information in both real and Fourier space.

In 1990, the SFB (Sonderforschungsbereich) entitled "Selektive Reaktionen Metall-aktivierter Molekule" was established at the University of Wurzburg to promote efficient cooperation between various fields of chemistry and physics. An essential ingredient of this interdisciplinary research project is the periodic holding of meetings in order to present actual results and recent trends in organometallic chemistry and related areas. The third international symposium was held at the Chemical both from academia and industry. In plenary lectures provided by reputated invited scientists and posters contributed by the members of the SFB 347 a broad spectrum of actual results obtained in selective metal catalysis, organometallic synthesis, bioorganic reactions, physico-chemical and theoretical studies on organometallic compounds and intermediates has been covered. This volume presents a useful insight in the recent trends and will stimulate further progress in the field."

This is a book on one of the most fascinating and controversial areas in contemporary science of carbon, chemistry, and materials science. It concisely summarizes the state of the art in topical and critical reviews written by professionals in this and related fields.

Only in the past decade, has the scientific and industrial community come to realize the potential utility offered by inorganic and organometallic polymers (lOPs) for a wide variety of applications. This potential is especially important for applications requiring multifunctional polymers, e.g. for smart materials, nanotechnology, biomimetic systems (neural networks), photonics, etc; lOPs with special properties. The breadth of perfor- mance requirements for the individual areas of application is enormous as are the problems pertaining to generating low cost, high performance, processable lOPs. This book represents the third in a series of books we have edited on inorganic and organometallic polymer chemistry (1. Transfonnation of Organometallics into Common and Exotic Materials, NATO ASI Series Vol 141. 2. Inorganic and Organometallic Oligo- mers and Polymers, Kluwer publications). In this series, we have attempted to identify important trends that help to define for the reader; the potential scope of lOP science as well as the problems that must be surmounted to realize this potential. The focus of the work presented in the following chapters is primarily on the relationships between lOPs and solid state materials with special properties, e.g. conducting, magnetic, photonic and structural materials.

This volume had its birth from a symposium organized by the Macromolecular Secretariat of the American Chemical Society in Atlanta, GA, 1991. Since Macromolecular SeCretariat has five participating divisions-Polymer Chemistry; Polymer Materials: Science and Engineering Division; Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division; Cellulose, Paper and Textile Division; and Rubber Division-the speakers were invited from these disciplinaries and they are truly interdisciplinary in multidisciplinary areas. A number of papers are from the presentations at this symposium. However, some papers were subsequently invited to be sent in. Therefore, many papers have cited references with dates as late as this current year. This book emphasizes applications, and some of the papers were finished in 1993. Therefore, it is timely for scientists and engineers interested in this area of progress. For scientists and engineers who are not familiar with this field, since the development is still youthful, this volume will cover some new frontiers, such as electronics, medical devices, fossil fuels, asphaltics, geochemistry, and environmental engineering. With that in mind, this book can be very useful as a reference. We do include a number of review papers . in this volume. In summary, this book contains sixteen chapters with twenty-eight authors from various organizations and specialties."

Most organic molecules retain their integrity when dissolved, and even though in such cases the effects exerted by solvents are, in the language of the coordination chemist, of the "outer sphere" kind, the choice of solvent can be critical to the successful outcome of an operation or preparation. Solubilities of reactants and products must be taken into account, and even if the organic principals in the reactions retain their integrity, many of the reagents are electrolytes, and their state of aggregation will affect their reactivity. In testifying to the importance of understanding solute-solvent interactions I draw attention to a large class of inorganic species for which the involvement in the chemical and physical properties by the solvent is even more deeply seated. It is comprised by the large body of metal atoms in low oxidation states for which solvent molecules intervene as reagents. At the same time, because the ions carry charges, the effects arising from outer sphere interactions are usually greater than they are for neutral molecules. To cite an example: when FeCb(s) is dissolved in water to form a dilute - say O. OlO- solution there is a complete reorganization of the coordination sphere of the cation. Whereas in the solid each cation is surrounded by six chloride ions, in the solution the dominant form is [Fe(H20)6]3+ followed by [Fe(H20)sCI]2+, [Fe(H20)4CI2]+, etc. in rapidly decreasing abundance.

A unique selection of papers on the most recent progress in the modelling of biological molecules containing metal ions. New approaches and techniques in this field are allowing researchers to discuss structures, electronic properties and reaction mechanisms of metalloproteins on the basis of computational studies. The book discusses different approaches in the development of new force fields and their application to the computation of the structures, electronic properties and dynamics of bioinorganic compounds as well as quantum mechanical and integrated QM/MM methods for understanding the function of metalloenzymes and the calculation of electrostatic interactions.

This book presents the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Frontiers of Polymers and Advanced Materials held in Jakarta, Indonesia during January 10-15, 1993. This conference was organized and sponsored by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), and the Indonesian Polymer Association. The 244 participants represented a total of 24 countries and a wide variety of academic, industrial and government groups. The inauguration was held in the Royal Palace and was performed by President Soeharto of Indonesia. High level media coverage ensured worldwide recognition. The need for such a conference was emphasized by the fact that polymers have emerged as an important class of materials offering challenging opportunities for both fundamental research and new technological applications. There has been a tremendous growth of interest in the field of polymers, both in academia and in industry, and polymer science offers tremendous opportunities for both fundamental and applied work. This globally represented Second International Conference on Frontiers of Polymers and Advanced Materials was timely, especially given the current heightened enthusiasm for polymers and emerging novel applications.

Distinct scientific communities are usually involved in the three fields of quasi-crystals, of liquid crystals, and of systems having modulated crystalline structures. However, in recent years, there has been a growing feeling that a number of common problems were encountered in the three fields. These comprise the need to recur to "exotic" spaces for describing the type of order of the atomic or molecular configurations of these systems (Euclidian "superspaces" of dimensions greater than 3, or 4-dimensional curved spaces); the recognition that one has to deal with geometrically frustrated systems, and also the occurence of specific excitations (static or dynamic) resulting from the continuous degeneracies of the stable structures considered. In the view of discussing these problems, aNA TO-Advance Research Workshop has assembled in Preveza (Greece), in september 1989,50 experts of the three considered fields (with an equal proportion of theorists and experimentalists). 35 hours of conferences and discussions have led to a more detailed evaluation of the similarities and of the differences in the approaches implemented in the studies of the three types of systems. The papers contained in this NATO-series book provide the substance of this workshop. The reader will find three types of papers. Some very short papers giving the main ideas stated on a subject. Papers comprising 8-10 pages which stick closely to the contents of the talks presented. Longer papers providing more extensively the background and results relative to a given topic. It is worth summarizing the principal outputs of the workshop.

Alexander L. Reznichenko and Kai C. Hultzsch: Catalytic -Bond Metathesis Zhichao Zhang, Dongmei Cui, Baoli Wang, Bo Liu, Yi Yang: Polymerization of 1,3-Conjugated Dienes with Lanthanide Precursors Frank T. Edelmann: Homogeneous Catalysis using Lanthanide Amidinates and Guanidinates Tianshu Li, Jelena Jenter, Peter W. Roesky: Rare Earth Metal Post-metallocene Catalysts with Chelating Amido Ligands