Alkaline earth metals: homometallic bonding.

The study of alkaline earth metal complexes is undergoing a renaissance. Stable molecular species featuring Mg-Mg bonds were reported in 2007 and their reactivity has since been intensively investigated. Motivated by this work, efforts have also been devoted to the synthesis of complexes featuring Be-Be and Ca-Ca bonds. These collective endeavours have revealed that the chemistry of the group 2 metals is richer and more complex than had previously been appreciated. Here, a discussion of the nature of homometallic alkaline earth bonding is presented, recent synthetic advances are described, and future directions are considered.