“All modern chemistry is coordination chemistry.” The statement is from Professor Ana Maria da Costa Ferreira, author, with Professor Henrique Eisi Toma, of the book Química de Coordenação — Uma Abordagem Experimental (Coordination Chemistry - An Experimental Approach), released by Edusp. The authors are professors at the Instituto de Química at USP and Costa Ferreira is also a researcher with RIDC Redoxoma.

Coordination chemistry studies how central metallic elements coordinate the attraction and disposition of other molecules or ions, called ligands, forming metallic complexes. As metallic elements are used in all types of objects and products and are essential for the functioning of the human organism, coordination chemistry encompasses, in addition to chemistry, areas such as biology, medicine, metallurgy, engineering, materials, electronics, catalysis, and industrial processes.

“This book is a pioneer in trying to show that, through the analysis of coordination chemistry, you enter, for example, biochemistry from an inorganic point of view, which is bioinorganic, and you change the view of biochemistry. You are talking about the elements in nature, the importance of metals in enzymes, you change the biological view that is fixed on carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.” According to the researcher, when we talk about the elements of life, we think of organic compounds, but life has at least 25 constituting elements, of which 19 are inorganic. “The reason for this is that evolution did not start with organic compounds, it started with mineral nature, with the transformations that occur in the mineral world, and this is what life has incorporated. We even change the way we see chemistry evolution.”

The authors point out that “in the area of materials, it is just coordination chemistry; in nanotechnology, coordination chemistry is its language; in catalysis, most catalysts are inorganic compounds; in enzymatic catalysis - and that includes redox enzymes - it’s the same. So every area of knowledge, the luminescence, lasers, markers, everything is linked to coordination chemistry”.

In addition to bringing theoretical concepts, the book describes in detail the execution of experiments to be carried out in the classroom. “To talk about this book, we need to go back to the end of the 70s, when Henrique and I started teaching. At that time, coordination chemistry was a postgraduate subject, it was the frontier of knowledge. In 1981, we created an undergraduate course focused on coordination chemistry and we didn’t even have a laboratory. That’s why I usually say that coordination chemistry at IQ-USP has both a father and a mother. This book is the result of 40 years of experience,” says Costa Ferreira.

The book was published by Edusp in partnership with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies at USP, within the Incentive Program for the Production of Textbooks for Undergraduate Teaching (PIPLDE).