Abstract
This account briefly summarizes the organometallic chemistry of technetium over the thirty years of experience made by the author and others. Earlier publications, many from the "Journal of Organometallic Chemistry", are included as well for showing that a careful reading of the "old" literature may influence actual chemistry, challenges and concepts, and the author's own research in particular. It is shown that kinetic differences between 99Tc and 99mTc lead to complexes not immediately envisaged under specific reaction conditions, but very useful for ultimate application in molecular imaging and bioorganometallic chemistry. As with many other d-elements, most of the organometallic chemistry is based on a few starting materials, e.g. binary carbonyls such as Tc2(CO)10, which is hardly available nowadays for different reasons. Still, there are ways around it to get to the same compounds as when starting from Tc2(CO)10. Organometallic technetium chemistry, a niche field, is still underdeveloped which is mirrored by the fact that some important core organometallics such as η2-alkene and η2-alkyne complexes, standard for other d-elements, are still missing.
Alberto, Roger