From alkaline earth ion aggregates via transition metal coordination polymer networks towards heterometallic single source precursors for oxidic materials

Heterometallic oxides are used as materials in many applications, e.g. from ferroelectrics to superconductors. Making these compounds usually requires high temperatures and long reaction times. Molecular precursors may contribute to render their processing shorter and accessible at lower temperatures, thus cheaper in energy and time. In this review article, different approaches toward oxide materials will be shown, starting with homometallic clusters and coordination polymers and highlighting recent results with heterometallic single source precursors. On the way to the latter, we came across many exciting results which themselves allowed applications in different fields. This work will give an overview on how these fields were brought together for the current mixed metallic compounds as precursors for heterometallic oxides.