Contributions of Erhard Kurras to Organochromium Chemistry – From a Historical Perspective

Starting from the fundamental organometallic research work of Franz Hein, Erhard Kurras investigated the possibility of isolating stable organochromium compounds. He studied the existence of σ‐alkyl and σ‐alkylene complexes, π‐allyl compounds, as well as dichromium complexes containing a chromium‐chromium quadruple bond. Since that time a variety of organochromium compounds have been developed by the scientific community. In this article, we highlight the scientific work of Erhard Kurras by using selected examples. Most of these examples represent very important contributions to the field of chromium complex chemistry, as they were completely new at that time in terms of bonding, activation of small molecules, and finally catalytic behavior. We believe that Kurras's fundamental work has opened a new chapter in organometallic chemistry.