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.

In this exciting and rapid development reflecting book twelve of the participants at the Symposium "From Simple Material Systems to Complex Ones" - "From Information to Structure" give a general view of todays knowledge with respect to multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research in chemistry and science in general. How to analyse e. g. non-covalent interactions in the case of molecular recognitions or selfreplication, how to build up e. g. clusters and self-assembled molecules or how, in general, a knowledge of simple systems, acquired by the instruments of natural science research can be transferred to (more) complex systems and be utilized to improve our understanding, even of society was discussed by experts on chemical subjects like biochemistry, structure analysis, supramolecular chemistry and cluster formation up to biophysics, social sciences and philosophy.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of an international meeting held from June 28 to July 1, 1981, at Zif, Zentrum far Interdisziplin~re Forschung an der Universit~t Bielefeld, West Germany. The meeting was one of a continuing series organized through Zif on topics which transcend the boundaries of the traditional academic disciplines. The almost exponentially growing area of nitrogen fixation research fits this criterion completely. It is, however, so broad that we oriented and focused the meeting on just the chemical, biochemical, and genetic aspects to maximize the interaction among the participants and to produce a volume which would serve as a reference source for the involved researcher, the newly interested scientist and those with a more casual interest. The meeting was generously supported by Zif, the Westf~lisch Lippische Universit~tsgesellschaft, and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie. We sincerely thank these organizations for their generosity and interest and for recognizing the importance of nitrogen fixation research for the future of mankind.

The matrix isolation (MI) method has now been used for nearly thirty years. During this period it has been actively developed and the range of problems tackled greatly extended. Originally it was used for studies of transient species involv ing vibrational, electronic and ESR spectroscopy. Nowadays the study of transient species forms a comparatively small part of HI work since it has been amply demonstrated that very fruitful information can be obtained of the structure and interactions of stable molecules and their aggregates. In addition to the s ectroscopic methods mentioned above the MI technique is nowadays a standard method in research based on vibrational relaxation, luminescence, Mossbauer, magnetic circular dichroism, pulsed NMR and photoelectron spectroscopy. The matrix isolation technique affords considerable advantages over more conventional methods in most applications of spectroscopy. Areas where the technique has been widely applied, or shows great potential, include: metal atom chemistry, and its relation to surface chemistry, high temperature inorganic species, transition metal complexes, interstellar species, free radicals and unstable molecules, conformational studies, molecular com plexes, and intermolecular forces."

An authoritative up-to-date summary of the chemistry and applications of polyoxometalates with emphasis on new synthetic strategies directed towards functionalized organic derivatives, self-assembly of mesoscopic composite polyoxoanions, generation of framework materials and thin oxide films, extended optical, magnetic, and electrical properties, applications in homogeneous and nanocluster-based catalysts, photocatalytic water decontamination, ribosomal crystallography, and topological aspects of large symmetrical structures.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) form a large, distinctive class of molecular inorganic compounds of unrivaled electronic versatility and structural variation, with impacts ranging from chemistry, catalysis, and materials science to biology, and medicine. This book covers the basic principles governing the structure, bonding and reactivity of these metal-oxygen cluster anions and the major developments in their molecular science.

The book comprises three sections. The first covers areas ranging from topological principles via synthesis and stability to reactivity in solution. It also focuses on the physical methods currently used to extract information on the molecular and electronic structures as well as the physical properties of these clusters. The second part reviews different types of POMs, focusing on those systems that currently impact other areas of interest, such as supramolecular chemistry, nanochemistry and molecular magnetism. The third section is devoted to POM-based materials and their applications and prospects in catalysis and materials science.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) form a large, distinctive class of molecular inorganic compounds of unrivaled electronic versatility and structural variation, with impacts ranging from chemistry, catalysis, and materials science to biology, and medicine. This book covers the basic principles governing the structure, bonding and reactivity of these metal-oxygen cluster anions and the major developments in their molecular science.

The book comprises three sections. The first covers areas ranging from topological principles via synthesis and stability to reactivity in solution. It also focuses on the physical methods currently used to extract information on the molecular and electronic structures as well as the physical properties of these clusters. The second part reviews different types of POMs, focusing on those systems that currently impact other areas of interest, such as supramolecular chemistry, nanochemistry and molecular magnetism. The third section is devoted to POM-based materials and their applications and prospects in catalysis and materials science.

This book provides an authoritative up-to-date summary of the chemistry and applications of polyoxometalates with emphasis on new synthetic strategies directed towards functionalized organic derivatives, self-assembly of mesoscopic composite polyoxoanions, generation of framework materials and thin oxide films, extended optical, magnetic, and electrical properties, applications in homogeneous and nanocluster-based catalysts, photocatalytic water decontamination, ribosomal crystallography, and topological aspects of large symmetrical structures.

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.

The matrix isolation (MI) method has now been used for nearly thirty years. During this period it has been actively developed and the range of problems tackled greatly extended. Originally it was used for studies of transient species involv ing vibrational, electronic and ESR spectroscopy. Nowadays the study of transient species forms a comparatively small part of HI work since it has been amply demonstrated that very fruitful information can be obtained of the structure and interactions of stable molecules and their aggregates. In addition to the s ectroscopic methods mentioned above the MI technique is nowadays a standard method in research based on vibrational relaxation, luminescence, Mossbauer, magnetic circular dichroism, pulsed NMR and photoelectron spectroscopy. The matrix isolation technique affords considerable advantages over more conventional methods in most applications of spectroscopy. Areas where the technique has been widely applied, or shows great potential, include: metal atom chemistry, and its relation to surface chemistry, high temperature inorganic species, transition metal complexes, interstellar species, free radicals and unstable molecules, conformational studies, molecular com plexes, and intermolecular forces."

Der Autor analysiert die literarische Struktur von Prov 1-9 und zeichnet nach, wie diese erste "Sammlung" des biblischen Proverbien-Buches entstanden ist. Ein Schwerpunkt der Arbeit ist die Einordnung der einzelnen Wachstumsstufen in die Geschichte des weisheitlichen Diskurses in Israel.