The first seven metals in the periodic table are lithium, beryllium, sodium, magnesium, aluminium, potassium and calcium, known collectively as the “lightest metals”. The growing uses of these seven elements are enmeshing them ever more firmly into critical areas of 21st century technology, including energy storage, catalysis, and various applications of nanoscience.

This volume provides comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals and recent advances in the science and technology of the lightest metals. Opening chapters of the book describe major physical and chemical properties of the metals, their occurrence and issues of long-term availability. The book goes on to disucss a broad range of chemical features, including low oxidation state chemistry, organometallics, metal-centered NMR spectroscopy, and cation-π interactions. Current and emerging applications of the metals are presented, including lithium-ion battery technology, hydrogen storage chemistry, superconductor materials, transparent ceramics, nano-enhanced catalysis, and research into photosynthesis and photoelectrochemical cells.

The content from this book will be added online to the Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry: http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/ref/eibc

Table of Contents:

Contributors XI

Series Preface XV

Volume Preface XVII

PART 1: BACKGROUND 1

Interrelationships between the Lightest Metals 3
Nicholas C. Boyde and Timothy P. Hanusa

Occurrence and Production of Beryllium 23
Stephen Freeman

Occurrence of Magnesia Minerals and Production of Magnesium Chemicals and Metal 35
Mark A. Shand

Occurrence and Production of Aluminum 47
Halvor Kvande

Status as Strategic Metals 57
Deborah A. Kramer

Resource Sustainability 67
David A. Atwood

PART 2: FUNDAMENTALS 71

Low Oxidation State Chemistry 73
Michael S. Hill

Solution NMR of the Light Main Group Metals 91
Timothy P. Hanusa

Solid-State NMR of the Light Main Group Metals 117
Robert W. Schurko and Michael J. Jaroszewicz

Cation–π Interactions 173
Yi An and Steven E. Wheeler

Ion Channels and Ionophores 185
Peter J. Cragg

Beryllium Metal Toxicology: A Current Perspective 205
Terence M. Civic

PART 3: APPLICATIONS 211

Reimagining the Grignard Reaction 213
Sven Krieck and Matthias Westerhausen

Aryllithiums and Hetaryllithiums: Generation and Reactivity 231
D. W. Slocum

Magnesium and Calcium Complexes in Homogeneous Catalysis 255
Merle Arrowsmith

Aluminum-Based Catalysis 281
Mark R. Mason

Lithium-Ion Batteries: Fundamentals and Safety 303
Isidor Buchmann

Li-Ion Batteries and Beyond: Future Design Challenges 315
Yoon Hwa and Elton J. Cairns

High-Pressure Synthesis of Hydrogen Storage Materials 335
Hiroyuki Saitoh, Shigeyuki Takagi, Katsutoshi Aoki and Shin-ichi Orimo

Processing and Applications of Transparent Ceramics 343
Ling Bing Kong, Yizhong Huang, Zhili Dong, Tianshu Zhang, Wenxiu Que, Jian Zhang, Dingyuan Tang and Sean Li

Light-Element Superconductors 371
Andreas Hermann

One-dimensional Nanostructure-enhanced Catalysis 387
Sibo Wang, Zheng Ren, Yanbing Guo and Pu-Xian Gao

Lithium Pharmacology 417
Philip G. Janicak and Bradley R. Cutler

Solar Energy and Photovoltaics 427
Arnulf Jäger-Waldau

Abbreviations and Acronyms 437

Index 441