The Lightest Metals: Science and Technology from Lithium to Calcium

The first seven metals in the periodic table are lithium, beryllium, sodium, magnesium, aluminium, potassium and calcium, known collectively as the “lightest metals”. The growing uses of these seven elements are enmeshing them ever more firmly into critical areas of 21st century technology, including energy storage, catalysis, and various applications of nanoscience. 

This volume provides comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals and recent advances in the science and technology of the lightest metals. Opening chapters of the book describe major physical and chemical properties of the metals, their occurrence and issues of long-term availability. The book goes on to disucss a broad range of chemical features, including low oxidation state chemistry, organometallics, metal-centered NMR spectroscopy, and cation-π interactions. Current and emerging applications of the metals are presented, including lithium-ion battery technology, hydrogen storage chemistry, superconductor materials, transparent ceramics, nano-enhanced catalysis, and research into photosynthesis and photoelectrochemical cells.

Contributors XI Series Preface XV Volume Preface XVII PART 1: BACKGROUND 1 Interrelationships between the Lightest Metals 3 Nicholas C. Boyde and Timothy P. Hanusa Occurrence and Production of Beryllium 23 Stephen Freeman Occurrence of Magnesia Minerals and Production of Magnesium Chemicals and Metal 35 Mark A. Shand Occurrence and Production of Aluminum 47 Halvor Kvande Status as Strategic Metals 57 Deborah A. Kramer Resource Sustainability 67 David A. Atwood PART 2: FUNDAMENTALS 71 Low Oxidation State Chemistry 73 Michael S. Hill Solution NMR of the Light Main Group Metals 91 Timothy P. Hanusa Solid-State NMR of the Light Main Group Metals 117 Robert W. Schurko and Michael J. Jaroszewicz Cation Interactions 173 Yi An and Steven E. Wheeler Ion Channels and Ionophores 185 Peter J. Cragg Beryllium Metal Toxicology: A Current Perspective 205 Terence M. Civic PART 3: APPLICATIONS 211 Reimagining the Grignard Reaction 213 Sven Krieck and Matthias Westerhausen Aryllithiums and Hetaryllithiums: Generation and Reactivity 231 D. W. Slocum Magnesium and Calcium Complexes in Homogeneous Catalysis 255 Merle Arrowsmith Aluminum-Based Catalysis 281 Mark R. Mason Lithium-Ion Batteries: Fundamentals and Safety 303 Isidor Buchmann Li-Ion Batteries and Beyond: Future Design Challenges 315 Yoon Hwa and Elton J. Cairns High-Pressure Synthesis of Hydrogen Storage Materials 335 Hiroyuki Saitoh, Shigeyuki Takagi, Katsutoshi Aoki and Shin-ichi Orimo Processing and Applications of Transparent Ceramics 343 Ling Bing Kong, Yizhong Huang, Zhili Dong, Tianshu Zhang, Wenxiu Que, Jian Zhang, Dingyuan Tang and Sean Li Light-Element Superconductors 371 Andreas Hermann One-dimensional Nanostructure-enhanced Catalysis 387 Sibo Wang, Zheng Ren, Yanbing Guo and Pu-Xian Gao Lithium Pharmacology 417 Philip G. Janicak and Bradley R. Cutler Solar Energy and Photovoltaics 427 Arnulf Jager-Waldau Abbreviations and Acronyms 437 Index 441