Optically Active Organometallic Compounds of Transition Elements with Chiral Metal Atoms.

Chiral transition metal atoms are not only present in tris-chelate complexes [M(LL)3 ]n+ , which were already resolved into the enantiomers by Alfred Werner, but also in organometallic half-sandwich complexes such as 1 with three- or four-legged piano-stool structure. These complexes have been tools in the elucidation of the spatial course of reactions and in organic syntheses. Applications in enantioselective catalysis are beginning to show up. © 1999 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, Fed. Rep. of Germany.