Book excerpt: Compounds of the Transition Elements Involving Metal-Metal Bonds focuses on compounds of the transition elements involving metal-metal bonds. Emphasis is on metal-metal bonds in coordination compounds and organometallic complexes, halides, and oxides. Factors that influence the formation, stability, and properties of such compounds, as well as their application in various fields of chemistry and physics, are discussed. This book is divided into four sections and begins with a classification of metal-metal bonds and some of the physical and chemical methods used to study them, including X-ray crystallography, magnetic susceptibility and electron spin resonance, nuclear spin resonance, Mössbauer measurements, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, visible and ultraviolet spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, electrical conductivity, electrochemistry, and chemical reactivity. Factors influencing the strength of metal-metal bonds in metals and compounds are also examined. The remaining sections deal with metal-metal bonds in coordination compounds and organometallic complexes, halides, and oxides. This monograph will be a useful resource for inorganic chemists.