In 1043 a peace treaty between Henry III and King Samuel Aba of Hungary fixed the western border of the Kingdom of Hungary along the Leitha and Lafnitz rivers, among others. The territory of the present-day Burgenland became the western border-zone of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary until the 16th century. The majority of the population was Germanic. There was also immigration in the Middle Ages from the neighbouring Austria. During occupation of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire some parts of today's Burgenland stayed within Habsburg rule. After the Austro-Hungarian empire was formed in 1867 Burgenland was part of the Hungarian part of the monarchy. Because 74% of the inhabitants were of German origin the area came to the new formed Republic of Austria. In the time till the Second World War many people emigrated to the United States. It is said that Chicago is the largest town of the Burgenland.
During the Nazi occupation the state was part of Styria and Lower Danube. In addition to the oppression of the Jews, the ethnic groups Roma and Sinti also suffered under the Nazi regime. The Lackenbach concentration camp for Gypsies was in the area.
After the Second World War Burgenland was part of the Soviet occupation zone. After the Staatsvertrag it had a long border to the communist area in eastern Europe. The economic development was very slow. After joining the European Union this development became faster.
Burgenland's provincial assembly (Landtag) has 36 seats. The provincial government is a combination of Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). The voting age for regional elections in Burgenland was reduced to 16 in 2003.
The area's main attractions are the Neusiedler See (the lake), the hot springs at Lutzmannsburg, Stegersbach and Bad Tatzmannsdorf. There is also over 500 km of bicycle tracks in Also.
There are several events in summer:
Organometallic chemistry
Organometallic chemistry is the study of chemical compounds containing bonds between carbon and a metal. It combines aspects of inorganic chemistry (the study of non-carbon bonds) and organic chemistry (the study of carbon bonds).
Examples of organometallic compounds are tetraethyllead; it was used as a fuel (leaded gasoline) additive in the past. Also Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B) is a common organometallic compound.
Organometallic compounds are compounds that have chemical bonds between an one or more metal atoms and one or more carbon atoms of an organyl group (an organic ligand). They have the prefix "organo-" (for example, organopalladium compounds). Organometallic compounds include subgroups like the metalloproteins such as haemoglobin.
The term "metalorganics" usually refers to metal-containing compounds lacking direct metal-carbon bonds but which contain organic ligands which bind them to an organic compound. Metal beta-diketonates, alkoxides, and dialkylamides are members of this class.
In addition to the traditional metals, elements such as boron, silicon, arsenic, and selenium form organometallic compounds.
Many complexes have coordination bonds between a metal and organic ligands. The organic ligands often bind the metal through a heteroatom such as oxygen or nitrogen, in which case such compounds are called "coordination compounds".
Many organic coordination compounds occur in nature. For example, hemoglobin and myoglobin contain an iron center coordinated to the nitrogen atoms of a porphyrin ring; magnesium is the center of a chlorin ring in chlorophyll. The field of such inorganic compounds is known as bioinorganic chemistry. However, methylcobalamin (a form of Vitamin B), with a cobalt-methyl bond, is a true organometallic complex, one of the few known in biology.
The metal-carbon bond in organometallic compounds is half way between being ionic and covalent. Organometallic compounds with bonds that have characters in between ionic and covalent are very important in industry. They are both relatively stable in solutions but ionic enough to undergo reactions. Two important classes are organolithium and Grignard reagents.
Organometallics find practical uses in stoichiometric and catalytic processes, especially processes involving carbon monoxide and alkene-derived polymers. All the world's polyethylene and polypropylene are produced with organometallic catalysts. Acetic acid is produced using metal carbonyl catalysts in the Monsanto process and Cativa process. The bulk of the synthetic alcohols, at least those larger than ethanol, are produced by hydrogenation of hydroformylation-derived aldehydes. Similarly, the Wacker process is used in the oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde.
Organomettalic are highly basic and highly reducing. They catalyze many polymerization reactions. They are also useful stoichiometrically.
Organometallic compounds may be found in the environment. Environmentalists worry about organo-lead and organo-mercury compounds. They are toxic hazards.
Research is currently underway using organometallic catalysis. The energy crisis has initiated increased interest in more efficient ways of working with the remaining fossil fuels we have left. While many agree that lowering oil dependence is safer for the environment as well as politically wise. The new interest in “green” technologies has also helped increase research. Many examples of organometallic research can be found in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. Some current methods of chemical production are wasteful and produce toxic waste, while many organometallic catalysts show promise to change that.
Louis Claude Cadet synthesized methyl arsenic compounds related to cacodyl. William Christopher Zeise made platinum-ethylene complex. Edward Frankland discovered dimethyl zinc. Ludwig Mond discovered Ni(CO). Victor Grignard worked with organomagnesium compounds. The abundant and diverse products from coal and petroleum led to Ziegler-Natta, Fischer-Tropsch, hydroformylation catalysis which employ CO, H, and alkenes as feedstocks and ligands.
Years ago, Tetraethyllead was added to gasoline as an antiknock agent. Because lead is toxic, it is no longer used in gasoline. Instead, other organometallic compounds such as ferrocene and methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) are now added to gasoline to prevent knocking.
The 1973 Nobel Prizes to Ernst Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson for work on metallocenes made organometallic chemistry more popular. In 2005, Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock shared the Nobel Prize for metal-catalyzed olefin metathesis.
Coniston Water
Coniston Water (usually called just Coniston) is a lake in Cumbria. It is the third largest lake in the Lake District. It is long and wide. The lake has an elevation of 143 feet (44 m) above sea level. It drains to the sea via the River Crake.
In the 20th century Coniston was the scene of many attempts to break the world water speed record. On August 19, 1939 Sir Malcolm Campbell set the record at 141.74 miles per hour (228.108 km/h) in Bluebird K4. Between 1956 and 1959 Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell set four successive records on the lake in Bluebird K7, a hydroplane.
In 1966 Donald Campbell decided that he needed to get over 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) to keep the record. On January 4, 1967 he achieved a top speed of over 320 miles per hour (515 km/h) in Bluebird K7 on the return leg of a record-breaking attempt. He then lost control of Bluebird, which somersaulted and crashed, sinking rapidly. Campbell was killed instantly on impact. The attempt could not be counted as a record-breaking run because the second leg was not completed.
In recent times, Coniston Water has become known for a controversial murder case. Mrs Carol Park was dubbed the ""Lady in the Lake"" after the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name.
Delirium tremens