Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective organic chemistry Describing a structure in which a
hydrogen atom isbonded to both acarbon (orsilicon ) atom and ametal atom in a three-center, two-electron interaction.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word agostic.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
vendingmachine commented on the word agostic
adj. clinging tightly.
"Malcolm Green developed Metal Vapour Synthesis (invented originally by Peter Timms) as a technique, isolating a huge range of unusual compounds of extreme electron richness and reactivity. He and his students designed and synthesised striking examples of metal-alkyl compounds containing metal-hydrogen-carbon bonds which he named agostic bonds.The word was suggested to him by Jasper Griffin, professor of Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, whom Green asked for an appropriate Greek word to describe the close bonding phenomenon. "Agostos" is an obscure word in Homer which seems to mean clinging tightly."
June 24, 2015