Half a million inorganic compounds have been synthesized in a laboratory. This is about 1/40 the number of organic compounds prepared. The relatively low number of known inorganic compounds points to the fact that polymerization has not inflated the count of these materials to the same extent as it has for organics; in addition, the relative scarcity of most elements that are not found plentifully on earth further reduces the total number.




Half a million inorganic compounds have been synthesized in a laboratory. This is about 1/40 the number of organic compounds prepared. The relatively low number of known inorganic compounds points to the fact that polymerization has not inflated the count of these materials to the same extent as it has for organics; in addition, the relative scarcity of most elements that are not found plentifully on earth further reduces the total number.

However, this definitely does not mean that the usefulness of inorganic compounds is limited. On the contrary, they form the bedrock of crucial metallurgical and chemical engineering processes, and metallic reagents are also very useful in organic chemistry reactions.

This also means that a specialist in inorganic chemistry will probably know a larger proportion of the most important chemical compounds in his or her field than an organic chemist will.

This book helps you master the formulae of a very large number of inorganic compounds. The challenge is highest in the first few chapters, where compounds of the same elements are dealt with. In later chapters, I have concentrated on giving you a wide overview of different compounds from different elements, and the difficulty level is significantly lower.
By the end of the book, I hope that you will have discovered a wide range of materials, and that your appreciation for their formulae and molecular structures will be much higher than it is now!