The organometallic chemistry of the alkaline‐earth metals has undergone a renaissance during the last 20 years with heavy organoalkaline‐earth metal compounds becoming recognized as an area of organometallic chemistry with significant potential. Intense research efforts have provided a series of synthetic methodologies that provided access to a rapidly growing family of compounds not thought possible only recently. As a result, this improved insight did not only provide the basis for a more detailed understanding of the metal‐ligand bonding characteristics but also paved the way toward a number of applications including uses as diverse as in polymerization initiation, organic synthetic chemistry, catalysis, and materials chemistry. This article summarizes some of the recent, exciting developments in regards to alkaline‐earth organometallics.

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