TOWARDS RATIONAL SYNTHESIS OF INORGANIC SOLIDS

There have been major advances in the past couple of years in the rati onal synthesis of inorganic solids: synthesis of mercury-based superco nducting cuprates showing transition temperatures up to 150 K; ZrP2-xV xO7 solid solutions showing zero or negative thermal expansion; copper oxides possessing ladder structures such as La1-xSrxCuO2.5; synthesis of mesoporous oxide materials having adjustable pore size in the rang e 15-100 Angstrom; and synthesis of a molecular ferromagnet showing a critical temperature of 18.6 K. Despite great advances in probing the structures of solids and measurement of their physical properties, the design and synthesis of inorganic solids possessing desired structure s and properties remain a challenge today. With the availability of a variety of mild chemistry-based approaches, kinetic control of synthet ic pathways is becoming increasingly possible, which, it is hoped, wil l eventually make rational design of inorganic solids a reality.