Alkoxides and Alkoxosynthesis

This chapter summarizes modern approaches in the synthesis of metal alkoxides, provides an overview of their physical and chemical properties, with a special focus on molecular structure and reactivity, and gives a brief but up-to-date presentation of the reaction mechanisms in the synthesis of inorganic materials from metal alkoxides as precursors (alkoxosynthesis). A critical overview of molecular precursor approaches exploiting homo- and heteroleptic alkoxide complexes is provided, explaining the role of heteroligands in nucleation and subsequent growth of the resulting nanostructured materials. This chapter also provides a brief summary of other principal applications of metal alkoxides, such as homogeneous catalysts and molecular magnets, with a special focus on the synthesis and structure of these functional molecules.