In 1999, Swiatoslaw ("Jerry") Trofimenko published Scorpionates: The Coordination Chemistry of Polypyrazoly borate Ligands, a book that comprehensively described an area of chemistry that had, as its genesis, his synthesis of simple pyrazolyboron compounds at DuPont in the 1960s. Shortly thereafter, Jerry realized that these molecules were effective ligands and thereby provided the inspiration for many (including myself) to utilize them in a manifold of ways. For example, polypyrazolylborate ligands have been widely used in bioinorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and materials chemistry.
Not long after the publication of Scorpionates, Jerry realized that, because of the intense activity of this area, it would soon be out of date. As such, he planned writing a second book: Scorpionates-2. Unfortunately, Jerry's health was failing, and he realized that he would not be able to complete this task. Therefore, Jerry suggested to Clau-dio Pettinari, an aficionado and long-time practitioner of scorpionate chemistry, that he write it! And Claudio bravely accepted this challenge! By doing so, Claudio has not only provided a great service for coordination chemists, but has also provided us with a long lasting memory of Jerry who unfortunately died before this project came to fruition.
Claudio has done an excellent job and the book is jam-packed with information from more than 1300 papers covering 1999 to 2007. The book follows largely the same style as Scorpionates, but Claudio has extended the scope to include recent studies on scorpionate ligands that feature heterocycles other than pyrazoles. Jerry would have been proud of Claudio's achievement. My only question is has Claudio started thinking about a possible Scorpionates-3} If not, to whom will he pass on the torch?
Gerard Parkin Columbia University, USA
August 2007