| Summary: | The use of steric bulk in ligand sets to stabilize reactive species pervades the work of Lappert. In the development of routes to homoleptic alkyls of the early metals and lanthanides he used this strategy to great effect. The Lappert group produced a strong body of work concerning homoleptic alkyl and amido derivatives of these elements. Lappert was again ahead of the curve on this and was among the first to recognize that these ligands should be suitable for supporting a wide range of coordination chemistry, providing the advantage of steric protection of a metal center in comparison to the widely used acetylacetonate, or acac, ligand. Few ancillary ligand classes develop into widely adopted platforms for chemistry. Lappert himself continued to publish prodigiously in this area until late in his career and, along with Bourget-Merle and Severn, published a definitive review on the subject of NacNac ligands in coordination chemistry.
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