The series of experiments proposed for advanced undergraduate students deal with both standard organometallic preparative methods in dry anaerobic conditions and with a kinetic study of the mechanisms operating in the substitution of square-planar complexes. The preparation of organometallic compounds is carried out by transmetallation or oxidative addition procedures. Kinetic experiments deal with the fine tuning in associatively activated substitution processes. (Contains 2 schemes and 1 figure.)