Metal thiocyanates have diverse functions. The most striking is undoubtedly the strong optical absorption and intense colours which arise largely due to the presence of low-lying metal-toligand charge transfer bands, e.g. the well-known blood-red ferric thiocyanate aqueous complex. The strong optical absorption has been harnessed for non-linear optical function, and photoconductivity. The magnetic properties of metal thiocyanates were originally of interest as susceptibility standards, due to the relatively temperature independent magnetic moment of ternary compounds such as CoHg(NCS) 4 . This arises because the large distances between ions produces weak magnetic superexchange and well isolated ions, however, long-range magnetic order has been found over comparable distances in Cr[Bi(SCN) 6 ] and even CoHg(NCS) 4 has surprisingly complex magnetism. Recent work has shown that metal thiocyanates possess a range of interesting magnetic behaviours, including magnetic order at liquid nitrogen temperatures and low dimensional magnetism The presence of electronic communication between metal ions, despite the increased length of NCS -, has also been harnessed to produce transparent conductors, e.g. Cu(NCS). Thiocyanate compounds are also now being explored as catalysts for a range of reactions, including organophosphate hydrolysis and water photo-oxidation. The range of structures and chemistries suggests that future investigation of thiocyanates may uncover other novel functions.