Given the alleged extreme toxicity of beryllium and its compounds, it is the least investigated nonradioactive element. However, beryllium exhibits unique properties among the elements and therefore the related coordination chemistry is unprecedented. With the emergence of s-block catalysis and the introduction of low-valent magnesium complexes as versatile reducing agents, the interest in related beryllium compounds also has increased. Therefore, some quite remarkable progress on the coordination and organometallic chemistry of beryllium has been made in the last two decades. This Minireview article gives an oversight over the relatively recent developments in this field of beryllium research. An emphasis is placed on the correlation between the structure and reactivity of the described compounds.
Keywords: Lewis acid; beryllium; coordination chemistry; main-group compounds; organometallic.
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