Progress report

This paper provides a brief resume of our current researches in organometallic chemistry. The first deals with non-classical organolanthanoid chemistry, which has, as targets, subvalent compounds of the early 4f elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd) and cationic organosamarium(II) and -ytterbium(II) complexes. The second is concerned with new aspects of metal amide chemistry including (a) silver(I) amides and isonitrile complexes of lithium amides: (b) derivatives of aromatic diamides such di(metalamino)cyclophanes; (c) metal silyl complexes derived from insertion of a stable silylene into M(II)-N(SiMe3)(2) (M = Ge, Sn or Pb) bonds: and (d) reactions of M'-X compounds with 1,3,5-triazine [M' = Li or Na and X = N(SiMe3)(2), C(SiMe3)(3) or CH(SiMe3)(2)] The two other present areas ton subvalent compounds of Group 14 elements and metal 1-azaallyls, beta-diketiminates and 1,3-diazaallyls) are reported more cursorily. The Introduction is divided into three sections entitled 'Relationship to the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry', 'Reviews (from 1956 to 1995)' and 'An outline of principal contributions'. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.