The present book is based on the work of M.N.Bochkarev, G.S.Kalinina,
L.N. zakharov and S.Ya.Khorshev. The Russian edition of that book
appeared under the same title in 1989 and covered literature data up to
the middle of 1986. Since that time the number of publications on this
subject increased significantly. In this volume we include all the data
published up to the end of 1990, as well as some of the most important
relevant articles of 1991. Therefore, this book should be considered as
a new book, devoted to the same problems, rather than as just a
translation of the mentioned issue. This book deals with compounds of
scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and lanthanoids containing direct
metal-carbon bond, Le. with the real organometallic complexes of these
metals. Besides, the volume includes the rare earth complexes, in which
organic ligand is bonded to the metal atom via the atom of another
element of the Periodic Table. In other words, the book includes all
classes of rare earth organoderivatives. Carboxilates, fl-diketonates
and related chelates are the exceptions, because their properties are
closer to inorganic compounds and they were fully described elsewhere.
It should be noted, that "rare earth elements", "rare earth metals",
"lanthanoids" and related terms are used in this book for indicating
scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and the following 14 elements of the
Periodic Table.