Page 19 - Arrow Pushing in Inorganic Chemistry A Logical Approach to the Chemistry of the Main Group Elements

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to many friends and colleagues who generously assisted us in the
preparation of this book. Prof. Carl Wamser of Portland State University and Dr. David
Ware of The University of Auckland read and critiqued the entire manuscript. Our debt
to these two loyal friends is immense. Others who read individual chapters and shorter
sections include Paul Deck of Virginia Tech (halogens), Penny Brothers of The University
of Auckland (Group 13 elements), Barry Rosen of Florida International University
(Group 15 elements), Ged Parkin of Columbia University (higher-valent and hypervalent
compounds), and Kyle Lancaster of Cornell University (the noble gases). We thank Steven
Benner (FFAME, Gainesville, FL; arsenic-DNA), Tristram Chivers (University of Calgary;
sulfur nitrides), Harry Gray (Caltech; higher-valent bromine reagents), Roald Hoffmann
(Cornell; aspects of halogens), Pekka Pyykkö (University of Helsinki; inert pair effect),
and Shlomo Rozen (Tel Aviv University; BrF ) for helpful advice and correspondence
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on the topics indicated within parentheses. Our long-time friend and collaborator Prof.
Jeanet Conradie of the University of the Free State, South Africa, assisted us with the DFT
calculations we needed for a better understanding of certain reactions. Carl Wamser and
Penny Brothers also provided wonderful refuges—Portland, Oregon, and Auckland, New
Zealand—where one of us (AG) could escape to and write.
The Foreword has been written by Harry Gray, who seemed to us to be uniquely qual-
ified for the purpose. In the 1960s, he and George Hammond tried to adopt a mechanistic
approach in teaching aspects of main-group chemistry (see, e.g., Chemical Dynamics by J.
B. Dence, H. B. Gray, and G. S. Hammond, Benjamin: 1968). Harry’s full-throated support
of our own approach means a great deal to us.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge Wiley editor Anita Lekhwani for her encouragement
and wise counsel throughout the writing process. We are similarly grateful to Sangeetha
Parthasarathy of Laserwords Pvt. Ltd. Chennai, India, for the considerable efforts involved
in the final production of the book.
Finally, we thank our families and some of our closest friends for their love and
encouragement: AG thanks Avroneel, Sheila, Ranjita, Matthew, and Daniel; and SB thanks
Kenneth, Andreas, Eirik, Tor Håvard, and above all Cathrine.

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