New directions in synthetic and structural solid state chemistry: the legacy of high temperature superconductivity beyond cuprate chemistry

The synthetic and structural chemistry of copper in complex oxides has developed extremely rapidly since the first reports of high temperature superconductivity in 1986. This progress in cuprate solid state chemistry has far outpaced that in many other areas of complex oxide chemistry. Significant new developments have included the formation of new complex oxides incorporating the volatile post transition oxides of Tl, Hg, Pb and Bi, the generation of complex structures based on stacked perovskites and/or other building blocks, the use of very high pressures during synthesis and the stabilisation of complex anions in oxides. Many of these advances are now being developed outside cuprate chemistry particularly with other late first row transition metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt. The aim of this article is not to review cuprate chemistry but to demonstrate where work on high T-c superconductors has resulted in significant recent progress for other transitional metal oxide systems. The syntheses and structures of these new complex oxides are described and areas where developments, derived from the discoveries in cuprate chemistry, can be expected in the next decade are also proposed.