Editing Inorganic chemistry (section)

===Organometallic compounds===
[[Image:N-butyllithium-tetramer-3D-balls.png|thumb|right|200px|[[Organolithium reagent]]s are most often found in polymeric form, such as [[N-Butyllithium|''n''-butyllithium]] shown here]]
{{Main|Organometallic chemistry}}
                
Usually, organometallic compounds are considered to contain the M-C-H group.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Organometallics: A Concise Introduction |author1=Elschenbroich, C. |author2=Salzer, A. |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley-VCH |location=Weinheim |year=1992 |isbn=978-3-527-28164-0}}</ref>  The metal (M) in these species can either be a main group element or a transition metal.  Operationally, the definition of an organometallic compound is more relaxed to include also highly [[lipophilic]] complexes such as [[metal carbonyl]]s and even metal [[alkoxide]]s.

Organometallic compounds are mainly considered a special category because organic ligands are often sensitive to hydrolysis or oxidation, necessitating that organometallic chemistry employs more specialized preparative methods than was traditional in Werner-type complexes.  Synthetic methodology, especially the ability to manipulate complexes in solvents of low coordinating power, enabled the exploration of very weakly coordinating ligands such as hydrocarbons, H<sub>2</sub>, and N<sub>2</sub>.  Because the ligands are petrochemicals in some sense, the area of organometallic chemistry has greatly benefited from its relevance to industry.
* Examples: [[Cyclopentadienyliron dicarbonyl dimer]] (C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>5</sub>)Fe(CO)<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>3</sub>, [[ferrocene]] Fe(C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>5</sub>)<sub>2</sub>, [[molybdenum hexacarbonyl]] Mo(CO)<sub>6</sub>, [[triethylborane]] Et<sub>3</sub>B, [[Tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0)]] Pd<sub>2</sub>(dba)<sub>3</sub>)