Bond-stretch isomerism: a case study of a quiet controversy

The phenomenon of bond-stretch isomerism in transition metal coordination chemistry – two isomers of a complex differing only in one bond length – was first suggested in the early 1970s and remained controversial until the early 1990s, when it was generally agreed to be illusory. The course of this controversy is considered from two points of view, as a straightforward narrative in chemical history, and in the context of several concepts promulgated by studies of science from the outside.