Introduction

Volume 106 of the RSC's Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry, Section A summarises, in one definitive volume, the key research literature on topics in inorganic chemistry published during 2009. Written by specialists and experts in the individual fields, each report again verifies the vibrancy and breadth of modern inorganic chemistry. This is clearly illustrated by a perusal of the Highlights of the work reported in each Chapter which have been carefully selected by each author.

Volume 106 continues to survey the progress of inorganic chemistry categorised by both Periodic Group and by cross-cutting “Special Topics”. The latter evolve and develop as inorganic chemistry breaks new ground, and this volume introduces new annual Chapters on Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications and Interactions of Metal Complexes with Nucleic Acids authored by N. Thank and R. Compte-Vilar, respectively. Additionally, Volume 106 also includes a Feature Article on the burgeoning field of Metallomics by H. Sun. We are grateful to all the authors for their substantial efforts on behalf of Annual Reports in ensuring that their articles are available to the scientific community in such a timely fashion.

There can be no doubt that the pages within this Volume validate the imaginative approach of inorganic chemists and the wide variety of scientific areas in which they work. It is also quite clear that inorganic chemists are highly adept at thinking across boundaries and that the vitality of the inorganic chemistry community remains exceedingly high.

Footnote

† Scientific Editors.

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