On the Stability of Metallo-Organic Compounds

It is pointed out that serious difficulties are encountered in preparing organic compounds of the transition elements. The hypothesis is proposed that these difficulties are caused by insufficient stability of the carbon-metal bonds involved. Some rough calculations based on Mulliken's ``magic formula'' are used to test this hypothesis. The results obtained indicate that carbon-metal bonds formed by the transition elements are extremely weak. The calculations further suggest that carbon-metal bonds involving the alkali and alkaline earth metals are largely ionic.