book reviews add material t o an outline format, or for the student who wishes t o review organic chemistry after some time away from the subject, the present book would be eminently suitable. It is generally error free, and contains more than enough material for a typical one-year organic course for science majors. Students who master the contents of t b text would certainly have a firm foundation in organic chemistry. James F. Wolfe Virginia Polyi~chnic
instihrte and State University Blacksburg, Virginia
Principles 01 Medlclnal Chemlstq Edited by William 0. Foye, Massaehusetts College of Pharmacy, Boston, Massachusetts. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1974. xviii 857 pp. Figs. and tables. 19 X 26.5 cm. No price given.
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This new b w k on medicinal chemistry contains contributions from 38 capable authors. There is a wealth of information packed within the covers of this hook, a n d i t will be of value to anyoneinterested in medicinal chemistry and could serve as a goad textbook far underersduate oharmacv student,, a r ~ f e r e n r rbook for practicing medicinal chrmsti, or a source book for examplm of t,idog~cnllgactive moleuule~to add illustration to lectures in organic chemistry a t the ~
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undergraduate level. The hook stresses the biochemical mechanism of action of drugs whenever that is possible, and divides the discussion into chapters according t o the basic therapeutic classification of the drugs
cholinergic and sdrenergic nervous systems, cardiac glycosides and hypotensive agents, anti-coagulent drugs, diuretics, and antiallereic aeents (antihistamines).
diacnased. ...~.....
metnbt,l~smand endocrine function and include d~srusrimsof drugs affecting choler. terol levels, steroid hormones, non-steroidal anti-inflammntq agents, peptide hormones, thyroid hormones nnd drugsaffecting thyroid functwn. and \irnmms. Antihamn m d other chemotherapeutic agents are discussed in the next seven chapters. The last four chapters discuss pesticides (a useful addition to a book of medicinal chemistry), antiviral drugs, miscellaneous drugs acting on the respiratory system, and diagnostic agents. Each of the chapters fallows the same general outline and all are of good quality, most are excellent, and the depth of coverage varies considerably between chapters. As with any multi-authored text, there are likely to be omissions. Notable in this teat is a poor treatment of drugs used t o treat Parkinsonism and the only reference to L-DOPA occurs in an introductory chapter referring t o the effect of this agent on sleep patterns, and makes no mention of its use in the treatment uf Parkinaon's disease. 'l'here are 5everal ~ m u a r w not~commwdy used agent, in the chapters on antibiotics and chemotherapy, but if an instructor using this text looks for these, they are minor inconveniences and can be supplemented with assignments in other texts. The structural formulas, tables, and type are clear and of high quality. Inevitably, this book will be compared to the other texts on medicinal chemistry currently available. This book has theadvantage of being the latest and therefore the most current. It is considerably shorter than the classic two volume textbook of medicinal chemistry edited by Burger, and is not intended to compete with that treatise. In terms of topics and the depth of coverage, it is more comparable t o the textbook of "Organic Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry," edited by Wilson, Gisvold, and Doerge. The latter book concentrates in its format more on the official drugs and discusses USP and NF drugs in greatest detail. Foye's hook discusses all drugs and does not single o u t official items for more detailed discussion, and this makes for a more readable and more practical approach. While brief discussions of biochemical and metabolic transformations of drum are discussed in most of the chapters. renders wishinn to find details of the synthcsls and chcmicnl traniformar~ons of drugs may he disappointed.
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l'hr firat six chaptern cover n hrief but very informative intnducrion, an excellent revirw of phvs~corhemicalpmperties and drug action, a chapter ourlining the application of mderular orhital throw to the study of drug svstems with oartieuiar emohasis on the calculation i,f physical pn,prrlirs of drug mc,leculrs and their three dimrnsmnal curbformation and the implications of this in terms of interaction between drug and receptor, a discussion of the importance of stereochemistry and conformation on drug action, a goad introduction to the general asoects of drug metabolism and the conseqnencer of chis on ma~ntenwceof adequate b~olozicalar.tieit?and the principles ofdrug mteractions, m a a very hrief introduction to receptor site theory. The next seven chapters discuss drugs affecting the central nervous system and include chapters on the volatile anesthetics, sedative-hypnotic agents, anticonvulsants, neuroleptics (major tranquilizers), antianxiety agents, central nervous system stimulants, and analgesics (both central and peripheral acting compounds are discussed here with major emphasis on the narcotic analgesics and their analogs). The next seven chapters discuss drugs acting primarily on the peripheral nervous system, cardiovascular system or immune system, and include discussions of local anesthetics, agonists and antagonists of the
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Gary L. G ~ n e w a l d Schwi of Pharmacy University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045
A Guidebook to Mechanism in Organic Chemistry. Fourth Edition
Peter Sykes, Fellow of Christ College, Cambridge. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1975. xii + 362 pp. Figs. and tables. 21 X 13 em. $7.95. In the fourth edition, as in previous editions, of Peter Sykes' "A Guidebook t o Mechanism in Organic Chemistry," the (Continued on page A438) A436 / Journal of Chemical Education
stated overriding aim of the bwk is "to show how s few, simple guiding principles can be used to systematize and to largely account far the enormous body of apparently disparate information that goes to make up organic chemistry." In the opinion of this reviewer, the author in his fourth edition of this book continues to excel a t his stated task; this latest edition of his Guidebwk $ an excellent, up-to-date treatment of mechanistic organic chemistry that is concise, lucid, and well~litt..". ....... In approximately 360 page9 of teat. the authur introduces with clarity and s~mplicity all of rhr moat basic fearurea uf intn,ductory mechanistic organic chemistry with a wealth of well-chosen examples for illustration. Perhaps the most direct way t o describe the material covered in this book is simply to list the chapter titles: (1) Structure, Reactivity, and Mechanism, (2) Energetics, Kinetics, and the Investigation of Mechanism, (3) The Strengths of Acids and Bases, (4) Nucleophilic Substitution a t a Saturated Carbon Atom, (5) Carhonium Ions, and ElectronDeficient N and 0 Atoms, (6) Electrophilic and Nucleophilic Substitution in Aromatic Svstems. (71 Electroohilie and Nueleoohilic
Reactions. The most important new feature appearing in this edition of the Guidebook is an introductory chapter on symmetry controlled reactions, which is presented from the viewpoint of frontier orbital theory without the use of correlation diagrams. The basic concepts of phase relationships of orbitals (orbital symmetry) are introduced clearly and succinctly in this chapter a t a level that beginning students should grasp, and several well-chosen examples of each of the main classes of pericyclie reactions are presented. This latest edition of the Guidebwk contains new sections on several additional topics, including solvent effects on ion pairs, specific and general a c d and base
