Fluorovinyl organometallic compounds — an historical review and some recent advances

This review describes the historically important routes to fluorovinyl organometallic species of the type M-(CX=CX₂), where M is a main-group or transition-metal element and one, or more, of the substituent atoms, X, is fluorine, the others being either other halogens, or hydrogen. A number of newer synthetic methods are described which have resulted in the preparation of a wider range of examples of such compounds. The structure, spectrocopy, properties, reactivity and future prospects for this class of compounds are described.