The father of coordination chemistry was Alfred Werner (1866- 1919). Werner's theory was largely responsible for the renewed interest in, and rapid growth of, inorganic chemistry around the turn of the century. He postulated that there were two types of valence, primary and secondary, which correspond, in modern terminology, to oxidation state and coordination number. The primary valences must be either negative ions, neutral molecules or, occasionally even, positive ions (11). He also postulated that the secondary valences are directed in space about the central ion, not only in the solid state, but also when the complex is in solution. This was the first attempt to describe the stereochemistry of metal complexes and the various isometric compounds which were known at the time. The properties and stereochemistry of such complexes, which were explained by Werner's theory, are the basis of coordination chemistry.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pacific.edu/oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-2692 |
| Date | 01 January 1969 |
| Creators | Kalberer, Herman William |
| Publisher | Scholarly Commons |
| Source Sets | University of the Pacific |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations |
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